On being nonprofit : a conceptual and policy primer / Peter Frumkin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Frumkin, Peter.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nonprofit organizations.

Corporations.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (224 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This concise and illuminating book provides a road map to the evolving conceptual and policy terrain of the nonprofit sector. Drawing on prominent economic, political, and sociological explanations of nonprofit activity, Peter Frumkin focuses on four important functions that have come to define nonprofit organizations. The author clarifies the debate over the underlying rationale for the nonprofit and voluntary sector's privileged position in America by examining how nonprofits deliver needed services, promote civic engagement, express values and faith, and channel entrepreneurial impulses. He also exposes the difficult policy questions that have emerged as the boundaries between the nonprofit, business, and government sectors have blurred. Focusing on nonprofits' growing dependence on public funding, tendency toward political polarization, often idiosyncratic missions, and increasing commercialism, Peter Frumkin argues that the long-term challenges facing nonprofit organizations will only be solved when they achieve greater balance among their four central functions. By probing foundational thinking as well as emergent ideas, the book is an essential guide for nonprofit novitiates and experts alike who want to understand the issues propelling public debate about the future of their sector. By virtue of its breadth and insight, Frumkin's book will be an invaluable resource for anyone interested in understanding the complex interplay of public purposes and private values that animate nonprofit organizations.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Preface

Contents

1. The Idea of a Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector

2. Civic and Political Engagement

3. Service Delivery

4. Values and Faith

5. Social Entrepreneurship

6. Balancing the Functions of Nonprofit and Voluntary Action

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 183-208) and index.

ISBN:

9780674263420

0674263421

9780674037403

0674037405

OCLC:

451013429