NNSI Editorial Team

Nonprofit Capacity

Nonprofit Capacity: A guide for foundations

Foundations, technical assistance organizations, and government programs often claim to promote nonprofit capacity. But, many times, it’s not clear what they mean. Merriam Webster defines capacity as “the facility or power to produce, perform, or deploy.” Nonprofit capacity is the facility of nonprofits to produce, perform, or deploy their resources. It’s not the same as effectiveness. Instead, it describes the ability of a nonprofit to accomplish its organizational goals and

People Protesting with Sign Planet over Profit

Research Insights

Does Corporate Social Responsibility Communication Assuage Activists More Than Other People?

Popular culture and management scholars argue that activists serve as the watchdog for corporations. In the absence of government regulation, activists supposedly hold corporations to account. Corporate activists are more informed and, therefore, more skeptical about corporate social responsibility messages than the general public. Activists, the theory goes, can sniff out greenwashing in ways that the average citizen cannot. But, no studies had empirically examined whether activists were more skeptical

Person head first in washing machine in laundry mat

Reading

Networks and Systems Change: The Washing Machine Model

By Anne-Marie Boyer Conversations around social issues are regularly punctuated with the term “systems change.” Systems change recognizes that problems are unconstrained, dynamic, and continually evolving. Education disparities, climate change, public health, women’s rights, and poverty are entwined; Addressing any one of these issues unravels moving parts in the other. The Rockefeller Foundation states that systems change requires collaboration. Individuals and organizations, from across sectors and areas of expertise, collaborate

People

NNSI Profiles: Kevin Qiu (’20), Will Deschler (’21), and Cara Savin (’22)

This fall, NNSI is excited to welcome back three returning research assistants for the 2019-20 school year: Kevin Qiu (‘20), Will Deschler (‘21), and Cara Savin (‘22). Hailing from Bellevue, WA, Kevin Qiu is a senior majoring in computer science. He first heard about NNSI through a friend and followed up on the research assistant opening as he was interested in learning more about the intersection of nonprofits and

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How do funders influence the outcomes of nonprofit collaboration?

By: Michelle Shumate About a month ago, I had the opportunity to share my thoughts on the ways that funders influence the outcomes of nonprofit collaboration. I’ve synthesized some of my comments below and there’s a link to the full panel video at the bottom of this post. What do we know about philanthropy and social impact and its connections to networks and collaboration? We know that both the philanthropic

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NNSI Profile: Jack Harris

Meet Jack Harris, a post-doctoral research associate at the Network for Nonprofit and Social Impact. Born and raised on the East Coast, he graduated from Rutgers University with a bachelor’s in history and a masters and PhD in communication. In the NNSI lab, Jack works on the Army Research Office grant on collective impact and education reform. He has spent time living in New Orleans, Minneapolis and, for the past