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Definition of Nonprofit Organization

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  • First Online:
Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance

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Synonyms

Charities; Civil society organizations; Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); Nonprofit institutions; Philanthropic organizations; Social economy organizations; Third sector organizations; Voluntary organizations

Definition

Despite different naming framed along the years and in different countries according to different traditions, a distinctive feature of every nonprofit organization is the prohibition, or limit, as in the case of some specific organizations like social cooperatives and social enterprises in Europe, from distributing their assets or surpluses regardless of the presence or absence of tax breaks. A nonprofit organization finds its essence in having the mission of producing and delivering public goods together with advocacy actions, having as inspiring mission, a social objective rather than the search for profits. A nonprofit organization belongs to an institutional sector between state and market.

Introduction

Private organizations having the mission of...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. DEA – “G. d’Annunzio” University, Chieti-Pescara, Italy

    Gianluca Antonucci

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  1. Gianluca Antonucci
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Correspondence to Gianluca Antonucci .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Ali Farazmand

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Antonucci, G. (2017). Definition of Nonprofit Organization. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3043-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3043-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

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