Blogs and Articles

NNSI Research Report: Catalyzing Organizational Innovation in the Nonprofit Sector

Innovation has become a buzzword for nonprofit organizations seeking to obtain funding, improve service delivery, and enhance performance. In this research, we asked one question: how can nonprofit organizations be more innovative? To answer this question, we conducted surveys among a random sample of 2,000 nonprofit organizations with a revenue above $250,000 in the United States from April to August 2017. In total, 306 organizations returned surveys and 293 surveys

NNSI Research Report: The Nonprofit Capacities Instrument

By: Katherine Cooper In recent years, funders and consultants have emphasized building nonprofit capacity – that is, the processes, practices, and people that a nonprofit has at its disposal that enables it to produce, perform, or deploy resources to achieve its mission. Many organizations have developed their own tools for assessing capacity; however, despite having a variety of available options, nonprofit leaders struggle to measure capacity. This is in part

Nonprofit Capacity Scoring Sheet

View the Resource By Michelle Shumate, Katherine R. Cooper, Andrew Pilny, Macarena Pena-y-lillo The Nonprofit Capacity Instrument is a free, confidential assessment backed by science. Nonprofit leaders, foundations, and consultants can use the instrument with confidence. This online tool compares your survey responses to those of over 1000 nonprofits. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and based on your responses, a full report including your scores and the

Driving Strategic Change at The Junior League (A)

View the Resource By Michelle Shumate, Liz Livingston Howard, Waikar Sachin “Driving Strategic Change at the Junior League (A)” describes a troubled organizational environment. Challenges included a dissatisfied membership, declining membership numbers, a large diversity among local leagues, and limited resources to meet the organization’s overall objectives. The case describes a “participatory roadmap” approach, drawing on the insights of comprehensive research, and highlights a strategic-change approach that focuses on participation

Nonprofit Merger Study Released: Implications for Nonprofit Management

By NNSI Editorial Team Nonprofit mergers are often presented as a last-ditch attempt to save organizations that would otherwise be forced to close. A new study on nonprofit mergers instead explores the possibility of mergers as a nonprofit strategy to achieve the mission and increase outcomes. NNSI researchers Kate Cooper and Rey Maktoufi worked with Professor Don Haider of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University to conduct the

“Wicked” Problems: What Are They, and Why Are They of Interest to NNSI Researchers?

By Katherine R. Cooper Not too long ago, I sat in on a meeting of local leaders as they wrestled with an education initiative that they were trying to implement in the community. Although the group’s goal sounded simple enough – introducing literacy programming into existing school and community projects – the conversation soon became complicated. There is a clear link between improving literacy and improving educational outcomes, but what