Issues in Not-for-Profit Management (RPAD 613)

Fall 2016

Monday 5:45p – 9:35p, Husted Hall 204

Instructor: Dr. Elizabeth A.M. Searing

Office hours: Monday 2:00p – 3:30p or by appointment

Office location: Milne Hall 305

Office number: 518-442-2621

Email: esearing@albany.edu

I. Course Learning Objectives Deepened understanding of: • the unique context of the not-for-profit sector • current and future issues with which nonprofit managers and leaders are grappling • values trade-offs inherent in various nonprofit organizational dilemmas • alternative management and leadership strategies Increased competence in: • practice of different management elements in the nonprofit sector • leveraging the strengths and handling challenges in a team environment • writing management memos and reports • utilizing research techniques for application to practice • documenting references accurately and consistently • contributing to a professional discourse of ideas and techniques II. Course Readings

• David O. Renz (ed.). The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership & Management, 3rd ed., San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010. There is a new one coming out this semester – we are NOT using the newest one. • There are substantial additional readings that will be available on Blackboard. • There will be some in-class readings, as well, involving case studies and classroom activities. Please let me know if this will present obstacles or challenges for you. The text is available through the U Albany bookstore and several online retailers.

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Selected Journals of Interest

• Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly Journal of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) • Nonprofit Management and Leadership • Nonprofit Quarterly (Industry journal and daily newswire) • Voluntas Journal of the International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) • Stanford Social Innovation Review III. Classroom Approach

This course uses a technique called Team-Based Learning (or TBL). A standard class

assumes that information is best presented (often in lecture format) during class time; this

means that group work and applications of the knowledge occur outside of class. The TBL

approach, like the “flipped classroom,” uses time outside of class for the ingestion of

knowledge through readings or mixed media. This means that class time can be used for

applications and activities. Unlike the flipped classroom, the TBL approach emphasizes

decision-making and the real-world role of teamwork. You will work with the same team

throughout the semester. Though individual effort is still the largest component of your grade,

your team and how well it functions will play a role in your success in this class.

IV. Grading and Assignments:

A. Individual Performance

Individual Readiness Assessments 7.5%

Project Draft 10%

Final Project 50%

B. Team Performance

Team Readiness Assessments 7.5%

International Memo 10%

Participation 10%

C. Team Peer Review 5%

100%

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1. Readiness Assessment Tests (RATs) (15%). The RATs are designed to measure your

comprehension of the reading assignments for each class. Each RAT has five

questions that you will take individually and without notes. After you submit your

answers for the individual RAT (or iRAT), your team will take the exact same RAT as a

group (tRAT). You will be able to discuss and defend your answers within your group

until you reach a consensus, at which point you select answers to the tRAT. The

team will all receive the same grade for the tRAT. Each question on the iRAT and

tRAT is worth a point, meaning that each week you will be eligible to receive a total

of 10 points. Over the course of the semester, you will be able to earn 120 points

for the iRAT and tRAT combined. Up to twenty points (or two missed classes worth)

can be dropped at the end of the semester. These scores will constitute 15% of your

your final grade (7.5% each for individual and team assessments).

2. Class attendance and participation (10%). Participation and attendance account for

10% of the final course grade. Students are expected to attend each class on a timely

basis so that they will benefit maximally from the class lectures and discussion. No

formal attendance is taken, but I will often collect written materials from group

activities we do in class (in addition to the RATs). Therefore, missed class will be

reflected in your grade and, likely, in your peer evaluation at the end of the

semester. If you find you must miss a class, please send me a notification via email.

3. International Memorandum (10%). This memorandum offers the opportunity to

explore the comparative nonprofit field beyond the broad approach used in class.

Using a country selected by the group, this memorandum should give a snapshot of

the chosen country, then explore the differences between the government,

corporate, and nonprofit sectors based on the readings from class and outside

sources. The audience for this paper is the professor, and the documentation

should be accurate and consistent. The memo should be 6-7 double-spaced pages

4. Final Portfolio (45%), Draft (10%), and Presentation (5%): This portfolio integrates

and expands on the materials learned in class. Each student should pick a nonprofit

organization (with the approval of the professor) and discuss the topics covered in

class in the context of their chosen organization. The two pages dedicated to each

aspect of management should be written following discussion of the concept in

class. To ensure timely and accurate completion of the portfolio, a draft of the

components already covered will be turned in mid-semester. This gives you the

opportunity to get feedback on your work prior to the final product. The final

portfolio should be approximately 25-30 double-spaced pages. The report’s analysis

or argument should be supported with substantial secondary sources from the

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reading, and at least five sources from outside the class readings. Be accurate,

comprehensive, and consistent in documentation. The audience for this paper is as

an organizational analysis or report for the nonprofit. For the presentation, you

should select two of the substantive areas covered in the portfolio and prepare a

handout summarizing your findings. You will briefly present this in a casual

discussion of no longer than 5 minutes during the final exam period.

5. Peer Evaluation (5%). Each team member will evaluate the helpfulness of the other

members of their team at both the midterm point (for guidance) and the end of the

term (for a grade). You will have a set number of points to distribute amongst the

rest of your group to assess their contributions, plus will have the opportunity to

give written verbal feedback.

6. Final Grade: Final grades will be based on class attendance and participation,

homework assignments, and semester projects, as described above. Final letter

grades will be assigned as followed:

Grade Total Percentage

Achieved

A 93%

A- 90%

B+ 87%

B 83%

B- 80%

C+ 77%

C 73%

C- 70%

D+ 67%

D 63%

D- 60%

E 59% and below

7. Late and Make-up Policy: Since part of the RAT process is a team effort, there are no

late or make-up RATs. For more substantial written assignments (the International

Memo, Final Portfolio, and the Portfolio Draft), these assignments are due at the

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beginning of class. A written assignment turned in within 24 hours of the beginning

of the class where it was due is eligible for 90% of the original point total. A written

assignment submitted between 24-48 hours after it was due is eligible for 80% of

the original point total. No written assignments will be accepted more than 48

hours after they are due except for a documented emergency situation. A

documented emergency situation is hospitalization (with accompanying paperwork),

the death of an immediate family member, or situations of similar magnitude. All

emergencies must have documentation, and the treatment of each is totally within

the professor’s discretion.

IV. Other Policies

Academic Dishonesty: Any form of academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Please refer to

University at Albany’s Academic Code at:

http://www.albany.edu/content_images/AcademicIntegrity.pdf for the definition of academic

dishonesty. Ignorance of these policies will not excuse dishonest conduct. Violations of these

standards will result in one or more of the following penalties: reduction in the grade for the

assignment, failure of the assignment, failure of the course, or expulsion. In all cases, a

Violation of Academic Integrity Report will be submitted to the Dean of Graduate Studies to be

placed in your university file, with copies provided to you, the department head, and the Dean

of Rockefeller College.

Accommodations for Disabilities: Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation

should:

(1) contact the Disability Resource Center; and

(2) provide the instructor with the appropriate and official university documentation indicating

the need for accommodation and what type. This should be done during the first week of class.

For more information about services available to University at Albany students with disabilities,

contact:

Disability Resource Center, University at Albany, State University of New York

BA 120, 1400 Washington Avenue

Albany, NY 12222

(518) 442-5490 (voice)

Director: cmalloch@albany.edu

http://www.albany.edu/disability/

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Electronics: Cellphones are not allowed to be used while class is in session unless it has been

cleared by the instructor ahead of time. You can use your laptop or tablets only for taking

notes, reading class materials, or doing in-class exercise. No other programs are allowed in

class. The instructor reserves the right to view your screen (in addition to the fact that most of

your neighbors can see it anyway) or to require you to turn it off. Any violation of the above

policy can result in either temporary or permanent revocation of the privilege to use electronics

in class.

Course Evaluations: Your honest assessment of this course is an important source of feedback

for both me and the department. We will have course evaluations both mid-semester and at

the conclusion. These are an important part of curriculum development, so please take the

time to fill out the evaluations thoughtfully.

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References are included on the syllabus for your information. They are not part of the required course reading, but are good resources for additional information on the topic.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Aug. 29 Introductions, Syllabus Review, and Discussion Reading in Class: Hager, Mark A., and Searing, Elizabeth A.M. 2014. “The Top Ten Ways to Kill Your Nonprofit.” The Nonprofit Quarterly (Winter, 2014). Sept. 5 No Class (Labor Day) Sept.12 Foundations of the Nonprofit Sector Frumkin, Peter. 2002. “The Idea of a Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector.” In On Being Nonprofit. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Blackboard) McKeever, Brice S., and Pettijohn, Sarah L. 2014. The Nonprofit Sector in Brief, Public Charities, giving, and Volunteering, 2014, Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute. (Blackboard) Salamon, Lester R. 1987. “Of Market Failure, Voluntary Failure, and Third-Party Government: Toward a Theory of Government-Nonprofit Relations in the Modern Welfare State.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 16(1-2), 29-49. (Blackboard) Salamon. Lester R. 2010. “The Changing Context of Nonprofit Management and Leadership.” In Jossey-Bass Handbook, 77-100. Watson, Larry, and Hoefer, Richard. 2014. “Administrative and Organizational Theories.” In Developing Nonprofit and Human Service Leaders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. (Blackboard) Wing, Kennard T., Roeger, Katie L., and Pollak, Thomas H. 2010. The Nonprofit Sector in Brief, Public Charities, Giving, and Volunteering, 2010, Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute. (Blackboard) Reference O’Neill, Michael. 2002. Nonprofit Nation, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Salamon, Lester, ed., 2002. The State of Nonprofit America, Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. (Blackboard)

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Sept 19 The Social Sector Across the World Campos, José Luis Monzón, and Avila, Rafael Chaves. 2002. “Historical Evolution of the Concept of the Social Economy.” In The Social Economy in the European Union. Chapter 2. Brussels, Belgium: European Economic and Social Committee. (Blackboard) Child, Curtis. 2014. “Sector Choice: How Fair Trade Entrepreneurs Choose Between Nonprofit and For-Profit Forms.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 1-20. (Blackboard) Hopkins, Bruce R. and Gross, Virginia C. 2010. “The Legal Framework of the Nonprofit Sector in the United States.” In Jossey-Bass Handbook, 42-76. Salamon, Lester M., Sokolowski, S. Wojciech, Haddock, Mega A., and Tice, Helen S. 2013. “The State of Global Civil Society and Volunteering.” Comparative Nonprofit Sector Working Paper no. 49. (Blackboard)

Sept. 26 Nonprofit Manager as Leader Bowman, Woods. 2012. “Nonprofit Accountability and Ethics: Rotting from the Head Down.” Nonprofit Quarterly, Oct. 26th. (Blackboard) Jaskyte, Kristina. 2004. “Transformational leadership, organizational culture, and innovativeness in nonprofit organizations.” Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 15(2), 153-168. (Blackboard) Jeavons, Thomas H. 2010. “Ethical Nonprofit Management” In Jossey-Bass Handbook, 178-205. Tierney, Thomas. 2006. The Nonprofit Sector’s Leadership Deficit. Washington, DC: The Bridgespan Group. (Blackboard) Oct. 3 No Class (Rosh Hashanah) Oct. 10 Nonprofit Manager as Governor Fletcher, Kathleen. "Effective Boards: How Executive Directors Define and Develop Them," Nonprofit Management and Leadership 2 (Spring, 1992), 283-293. (Blackboard) Kearns, Kevin P. “Effective Nonprofit Board Members as Seen by Executives and Board Chairs,” Nonprofit Management and Leadership 5 (Summer 1995), 337-358. (Blackboard)

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Renz, David O. 2010. “Leadership, Governance, and the Work of the Board.” In Jossey-Bass Handbook, 125-156. “Right from the Start: Responsibilities of Directors and Officers of Not-for-Profit Corporations,” Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, New York State Charities Bureau. (Blackboard) Saidel, Judith R. “Expanding the Governance Construct: Functions and Contributions of Nonprofit Advisory Groups,” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 27 (December 1998), 421-436. (Blackboard) Oct. 17 Nonprofit Manager as Advocate Avner, Marcia. 2010. “Advocacy, Lobbying and Social Change.” in Jossey-Bass Handbook, 347-374. Casey, John, and Mehrotra, Apurva. 2011. BACKGROUND PAPER: UNDERSTANDING NONPROFIT ADVOCACY. Center for Nonprofit Strategy and Management. New York City: Baruch College. (Blackboard) Dodge, Jennifer. 2010. “Tensions in deliberative practice: a view from civil society.” Critical Policy Studies, 4(4), 384-404. (Blackboard) Fyall, Rachel, and McGuire, Michael. 2014. “Advocating for Policy Change in Nonprofit Coalitions.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, December. (Blackboard) Grant, Heather McLeod, and Crutchfield, Leslie R. 2007. “Creating High-Impact Nonprofits.” Stanford Social Innovation Review. Fall 2007. (Blackboard) Oct. 24 Nonprofit Manager as Government Citizen and Contractor Boris, Elizabeth T., et al. 2010. Human Service Nonprofits and Government Collaboration, Findings from the 2010 National Survey of Nonprofit Government Contracting and Grants. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute. (Blackboard) Guo, Chao. 2007. “When Government Becomes the Principal Philanthropist: The Effects of Public Funding on Patterns of Nonprofit Governance.” Public Administration Review (May-June), 458-473. (Blackboard) Saidel, Judith R., and Harlan, Sharon L. “Contracting and Patterns of Nonprofit Governance,” Nonprofit Management and Leadership 8 (Spring 1998), 243-260 (Blackboard)

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Smith, Steven R. 2010. “Managing the Challenges of Government Contracts” in Jossey-Bass Handbook, 325-341. References Bernstein, Susan R. 1991. “Contracted Services: Issues for the Nonprofit Agency Manager.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 20 (Winter), 429-443. Bernstein, Susan R. 1991.Managing Contracted Services in the Nonprofit Agency. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Kramer, Ralph M. 1994. “Voluntary Agencies and the Contract Culture, ‘Dream or Nightmare?’’ Social Service Review, 33-60. Saidel, Judith R. 2011. “The Proxy-Partnership Governance Continuum: Implications for Nonprofit Management.” In The State of Public Administration: Issues, Challenges, and Opportunities. Edited by Donald C. Menzel and Harvey L. White, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 156-170. Oct. 31 Nonprofit Manager as Public Relations Expert Bonk, Kathy. 2010. “Strategic Communications,” in Jossey-Bass Handbook, 329-346 Gainer, Brenda. 2010. “Marketing for Nonprofit Managers,” in Jossey-Bass Handbook, 301-328 Gibelman, M. & Gelman, S.R. 2001. “Very Public Scandals: Nongovernmental Organizations in Trouble.” VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 12(49). doi:10.1023/A:1011242911726 (Blackboard) Lovejoy, Kristin, Waters, Richard D., and Saxton, Gregory R. 2012. “Engaging stakeholders through Twitter: How nonprofit organizations are getting more out of 140 characters or less.” Public Relations Review, 38(2), 313-318. (Blackboard) Wilson, H. James, et al. 2011. “What’s Your Social Media Strategy?” Harvard Business Review (July-August), 23-25. (Blackboard)

Nov. 7 Nonprofit Manager as Human Resources Director Brudney. Jeffrey L. 2010. “Designing and Managing Volunteer Programs.” In Jossey-Bass Handbook, 753-793. Light, Paul C. 2002. “The Content of their Character: The State of the Nonprofit Workforce,” The Nonprofit Quarterly (Fall), 6-16. (Blackboard)

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Soni, Vidu. 2000. “A Twenty-First Century Reception for Diversity in the Public Sector: A Case Study.” Public Administration Review Vol. 60, 5, 395-408. (Blackboard) Speckbacher, Gerhard. 2013. “The use of incentives in nonprofit organizations.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 42(5), 1006-1025. (Blackboard) Watson, Mary R., and Abzug, Rikki. 2010. “Effective Human Resource Practices: Recruitment and Retention in Nonprofit Organizations.” In Jossey-Bass Handbook, 669-708. Reference Pynes, Joan E. 1997. “Human Resource Management in a Dynamic Environment,” ch. 1 in Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Nov. 14 Nonprofit Manager as Resource Developer Dees, J. Gregory. 1998. “Enterprising Nonprofits,” Harvard Business Review (January-February, 1998), 55-67. (Blackboard) Fogel, Robert E. 2010. “Designing and Managing the Fundraising Program.” In Jossey-Bass Handbook, 505-523. Nash, Matthew T.A. 2010. “Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise.” In Jossey-Bass Handbook, 262-298. Searing, Elizabeth A.M., and Young, Dennis. (Forthcoming.) “Feeding the Zoo.” In The Social Enterprise Zoo. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. (Blackboard) Stone, Melissa M., Hager, Mark A., and Griffin, Jennifer J. 2001. “Organizational characteristics and funding environments: A study of a population of United Way–affiliated nonprofits.” Public Administration Review, 61(3), 276-289. (Blackboard) Teasdale, et al. 2013. “Oil and Water Rarely Mix: Exploring the Relative Stability of Nonprofit Revenue Mixes Over Time.” Social Enterprise Journal (4) 1, 69-87. (Blackboard) Nov. 21 Nonprofit Manager as Financial Guru Bell, Jeanne. 2010. “Financial Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations.” In Jossey-Bass Handbook, 461-481. Bowman, Woods. 2011. “Financial capacity and sustainability of ordinary nonprofits.” Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 22(1), 37-51. (Blackboard)

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Lecy, Jesse D., and Searing, Elizabeth A.M. 2014. “Anatomy of the Nonprofit Starvation Cycle: An Analysis of Falling Overhead Ratios in the Nonprofit Sector.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. doi: 10.1177/0899764014527175. (Blackboard) Schneiderman. Eric T., NYS Attorney General Charities Bureau. 2014. “Internal Controls and Financial Accountability for Not-for-Profit Boards.” (Blackboard) Young, Dennis R. 2007. “Toward a normative theory of nonprofit finance.” In D. R. Young (Ed.), Financing nonprofits: Putting theory into practice (pp. 339-372). Lanham, MD: AltaMira Press. (Blackboard). References Young, Dennis. 1998, reprinted with commentary in 2013. If Not for Profit, For What? Lexington, Massachusetts: Lexington Books. Nov. 28 Nonprofit Manager as Program Evaluator

There is little evidence, however, that organizations can reliably measure organizational performance at the institutional level, much less at the community and/or sectoral levels at a time when sophisticated assessment methodologies are in demand (Flynn and Hodgkinson, 2001:5)

Kaplan, Robert S. 2001. “Strategic Performance Measurement and Management in Nonprofit Organizations, Nonprofit Management and Leadership 11,3 (Spring), 353-370. (Blackboard) Murray, Vic. 2010. “Evaluating the Effectiveness of Nonprofit Organizations.” In Jossey-Bass Handbook, 431-460. Thomas, John C. 2010. “Outcome Assessment and Program Evaluation.” In Jossey-Bass Handbook, 401-430. Wheatley, Margaret and Kellner-Rogers, Myron. 1998. “What Do We Measure and Why?” the New England Nonprofit Quarterly (Fall/Winter), 6-9. (Blackboard) References Carman, Joanne G. 2008. “Nonprofits, Funders, and Evaluation, Accountability in Action.” American Review of Public Administration. Flynn, Patrice, and Hodgekinson, Virginia A. 2001. “Measuring the Contributions of the Nonprofit Sector,” in Measuring the Impact of the Nonprofit Sector, edited by Patrice Flynn and Virginia A. Hodgkinson,New York: Kluwer Academic, 3-16.

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Morley, Elaine, Vinson, Eliza, and Hatry, Harry P. Outcome Measurement in Nonprofit Organizations: Current Practices and Recommendations. Washington, D.C: Independent Sector, 2001.

Dec. 5 Nonprofit Manager as Strategist

Brown, William A. 2010. “Strategic Management.” In Jossey-Bass Handbook, 206-229. Bryson, John M. 2010. “Strategic Planning and the Strategy Change Cycle.” In Jossey-Bass Handbook, 230-261. Never, Brent. 2011. “Understanding Constraints on Nonprofit Leadership Tactics in Times of Recession.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 40(6), 990-1004. (Blackboard) Stone, Melissa M., Bigelow, Barbara, and Crittenden, William. 1999. “Research on Strategic Management in Nonprofit Organizations,” Administration and Society 31, 3 (July), 378-423. (Blackboard)

Dec. 12 Future Trends in the Nonprofit Sector Bromley, Patricia, and Meyer, John. 2014. “’They Are All Organizations’: The Cultural Roots of Blurring Between the Nonprofit, Business, and Government Sectors.” Administration and Society, doi: 10.1177/0095399714548268. (Blackboard) Child, Curtis. 2015. “Tip of the Iceberg: The Nonprofit Underpinnings of For-Profit Social Enterprise.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 1-21. (Blackboard) Harris, Margaret. 2012. “Nonprofits and Business: Toward a Subfield of Nonprofit Studies.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 41 (5) , 892-902. (Blackboard) Weisbrod, Burton. 1997. “The Future of the Nonprofit Sector: Its Entwining with Private Enterprise and Government.” Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 16(4), 541-555. Dec. 19 Portfolio Selection Presentations and Course Wrap-Up