Abstract
Change pervades the environment of nonprofit organizations. It is a reality that nonprofit organizations cannot afford to ignore. The reality of change means that nonprofit organizations must understand change in the external environment and position the organization to effectively adapt in a timely manner. This chapter examines the nature and drivers of change in nonprofit organizations. It offers a comprehensive insight into why change in nonprofit organizations is unique and the contextual factors that shape the dynamics of change in the sector. Also, it highlights the specific characteristics of change and the strategies that nonprofit organizations implement to manage change. Throughout the chapter, the challenges that underlie change and play an important role in the ability of the organization to adapt such as lack of resources and dependence on government are discussed. Together, the elements of change discussed in this chapter emphasize the need for change processes and tools to consider and incorporate the factors that define the unique context of nonprofit organizations.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Agovino, T. (2015, January 30). Major Social-Service Nonprofit to Shut Down. Crain’s. https://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20150130/NONPROFITS/150139985/major-social-service-nonprofit-to-shut-down. Retrieved from January 2018.
Akingbola, K. (2006). Strategic Choices and Change in Non-profit Organizations. Journal of Strategic Change, 15(6), 265–281.
Akingbola, K. (2015). Managing Human Resources for Nonprofits. New York: Routledge.
Alexander, J. (2000). Adaptive Strategies of Nonprofit Human Service Organizations in the Era of Devolution and New Public Management. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 10(3), 287–303.
Alexander, J., Brudney, J., & Yang, K. (2010). Introduction to the Symposium: Accountability and Performance Measurement: The Evolving Role of Nonprofits in the Hollow State. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 39(4), 565–570.
Anheier, H. (2005). Nonprofit Organizations Theory Management Policy. London: Routledge.
Anheier, H. K. (2009). What Kind of Nonprofit Sector, What Kind of Society? Comparative Policy Reflections. American Behavioral Scientist, 52, 1082–1094.
Bartunek, J. M., & Moch, M. K. (1987). First-Order, Second-Order, and Third-Order Change and Organization Development Interventions: A Cognitive Approach. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 23(4), 483–500.
Bennett, R., & Savani, S. (2011). Surviving Mission Drift: How Charities Can Turn Dependence on Government Contract Funding to Their Own Advantage. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 22(2), 217–231.
Besley, T., & Ghathak, M. (2017). Profit with Purpose? A Theory of Social Enterprise. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 9(3), 19–58.
Betz, M. (2018, September 12). The New Nonprofit Pharmaceutical World: What’s Up with That? Nonprofits Quarterly. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2018/09/12/the-new-nonprofit-pharmaceutical-world-whats-up-with-that/.
Boris, E. T., de Leon, E., Roeger, K. L., & Nikolova. M. (2010). Human Service Nonprofits and Government Collaboration. Findings from the 2010 National Survey of Nonprofit Government Contracting and Grants. The Urban Institute. http://www.urban.org/uploadedpdf/412228-nonprofit-government-contracting.pdf. Retrieved from December 2013.
Bradach, J. L., Tierney, T. J., & Stone, N. (2008, December). Delivering on the Promise of Nonprofits. Harvard Business Review, 86, 1–10.
Carroll, D. A., & Stater, K. J. (2009). Revenue Diversification in Nonprofit Organizations: Does It Lead to Financial Stability? Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 19(4), 947–966.
Castaneda, M. A., Garen, J., & Thornton, J. (2008). Competition, Contractibility, and the Market for Donors to Nonprofits. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 24(1), 215–246.
Cawsey, T. F., & Deszca, G. (2007). Toolkit for Organizational Change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Cha, C., Cheng, A., Dorosin, L., & Mannion, G. (2017). By Teaming to Help Immigrants Become Citizens, Grant Makers Can Reject Today’s Vitriol. The Chronicle of Philanthropy. https://www.philanthropy.com/article/Opinion-How-a-Philanthropic/240194. Accessed November 2018.
Chetkovich, C., & Frumkin, P. (2003). Balancing Margin and Mission: Nonprofit Competition in Charitable Versus Fee-Based Programs. Administration & Society, 35(5), 564–596.
Dickrell, S. (2018, October 31). Our Kids Needed You Yesterday’: Nonprofit Rebrands, Gets Bolder with Requests for Bigs. Saint Cloud Times. https://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/2018/10/31/minnesota-big-brothers-big-sisters-new-brand/1525391002/. Accessed November 2018.
Foster, M. K., & Meinhard, A. (2002). A Contingency View of the Responses of Voluntary Social Service Organizations in Ontario to Government Cutbacks. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 19(1), 27–41.
Fox, H. L. (2013). The Promise of Organizational Development in Nonprofit Human Services Organizations. Organization Development Journal, 31(2), 72–80.
Fox, J. (2017, November 20). Does the Nonprofit Sector Need Its Own Dow Index? Nonprofit Quarterly. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2017/11/20/nonprofit-sector-need-dow-index/. Accessed October 2018.
Frumkin, P., & Andre-Clark, A. (2000). When Missions, Markets, and Politics Collide: Values and Strategy in the Nonprofit Human Services. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 29(1), 141–163.
Glaeser, E. L. (2003). The Governance of Not-for-Profit Organizations. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Golden-Biddle, K., GermAnn, K., Reay, T., & Procyshen, G. (2007). Creating and Sustaining Positive Organizational Relationships: A Cultural Perspective. In J. E. Dutton & B. R. Ragins (Eds.), Exploring Positive Relationships at Work: Building a Theoretical and Research Foundation (pp. 289–306). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Gordon, C. W., & Babchuk, N. (1959). A Typology of Voluntary Associations. American Sociological Review, 24, 22–29.
Hall, H. (2009, March 31). Half of Charity Campaigns Plan to Extend the Length of the Drive, Survey Finds. Chronicle of Philanthropy. http://philanthropy.com/blogs/conference/half-of-charity-campaigns-plan-to-extend-the-length-of-the-drive-survey-finds/10505.
Herman, R. D., & Renz, D. O. (2004). Investigating the Relation Between Good Management, Financial Outcomes and Stakeholder Judgement of Effectiveness in Donative and Commercial Nonprofit Organizations. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action, Los Angeles.
Hrywna, M. (2015). Los Angeles OKs Paying Full Cost of Contracted Services. The Nonprofit Times. http://www.thenonprofittimes.com/news-articles/los-angeles-oks-paying-full-cost-of-contracted-services/.
Huggett, J. (2008). Who Decides? Mapping Power and Decision Making in Nonprofits. Nonprofit Quarterly. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2008/09/21/who-decides-mapping-power-and-decision-making-in-nonprofits/.
Jeavons, T. (1992). When the Management Is the Message: Relating Values to Management Practice in Nonprofit Organizations. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 2, 403–417.
Johnson, C. Y. (2018). Hospitals Are Fed Up with Drug Companies, so They’re Starting Their Own. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/hospitals-are-fed-up-with-drug-companies-so-theyre-starting-their-own/2018/09/05/61c27ec4-b111-11e8-9a6a-565d92a3585d_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1f40ffbe564d. Accessed September 2018.
Laporte, S., Kelly, D., & Agbabiaka, T. (2018). Can Technology Transform the Nonprofit Sector? Yale Insights. https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/can-technology-transform-the-nonprofit-sector. Accessed September 2018.
Leete, L. (2006). Work in the Nonprofit Sector. In W. Powell & R. Steinberg (Eds.), The Non-profit Sector: A Research Handbook. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.
Levine, M. (2018, November 1). When Money, Mission, and Values Collide: Another Story from Museumland. Nonprofit Quarterly. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/2018/11/06/when-money-mission-and-values-collide-another-story-from-museumland/?utm_source = NPQ + Newsletters&utm_campaign = 81b3d01ae8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_11_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_94063a1d17-81b3d01ae8-12325517&mc_cid=81b3d01ae8&mc_eid=ade6362326. Accessed November 10, 2018.
McCoy, K., & Dorell, O. (2008). It’s a Hard Time to Be a Charity. USA TODAY. https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/economy/services/2008-10-26-fundraising-crisis-donations-charities_N.htm. Accessed January 2018.
McHatton, P. A., Bradshaw, W., Gallagher, P. A., & Reeves, R. (2011). Results from a Strategic Planning Process: Benefits for a Nonprofit Organization. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 22(2), 233–249.
Melnik, E., Petrella, F., & Richez-Battesti, N. (2013). Does the Professionalism of Management Practices in Nonprofits and For-Profits Affect Job Satisfaction? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(6), 1300–1321.
Mogus, J., & Levihn-Coon, A. (2018, February 6). What Makes Nonprofit Digital Teams Successful Today? Stanford Social Innovation Review. https://ssir.org/articles/entry/what_makes_nonprofit_digital_teams_successful_today. Accessed September 28, 2018.
Mosley, J. E. (2010). Organizational Resources and Environmental Incentives: Understanding the Policy Advocacy Involvement of Human Service Nonprofits. Social Service Review, 84(1), 57–76.
Mosley, J. E., Maronick, M. P., & Katz, H. (2012). How Organizational Characteristics Affect the Adaptive Tactics Used by Human Service Nonprofit Managers Confronting Financial Uncertainty. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 22(3), 281–303.
Moulton, S., & Eckerd, A. (2012). Preserving the Publicness of the Nonprofit Sector: Resources, Roles, and Public Values. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 41(4), 656–685.
Nadler, D. A., & Tushman, M. L. (1995). Type of Organizational Change: From Incremental Improvement to Discontinuous Transformation. In D. A. Nadler, R. B. Shaw, & A. E. Walton (Eds.), Discontinuous Change: Leading Organizational Transformation (pp. 14–33). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Parsons, E., & Broadbridge, A. (2004). Managing Change in Nonprofit Organizations: Insights from the UK Charity Retail Sector. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 15(3), 227–242.
Prather, S. (2018, October 18). Greater Twin Cities United Way Narrows Focus of Its Grantmaking. Star Tribune. http://www.startribune.com/greater-twin-cities-united-way-narrows-focus-of-its-grantmaking/497973751/. Accessed October 31, 2018.
Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Quarter, J. (1992). Canada’s Social Economy: Co-operatives, Nonprofits and Other Community Enterprises. Toronto: James Lorimer & Company.
Rosenbaum, D., More, E., & Steane, P. (2017). A Longitudinal Qualitative Case Study of Change in Nonprofits: Suggesting a New Approach to the Management of Change. Journal of Management & Organization, 23(1), 74–91.
Ryan, A. (2010). Chicago Mission on Front Lines of Homeless Crisis. USA Today. https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-02-15-Chicago-mission_N.htm. Accessed October 15, 2018.
Salamon, L. M., Hems, L. C., & Chinnock, K. (2000). The Nonprofit Sector: For What and for Whom? (Working Papers of the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project No. 37). Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies.
Schmidt, S. (2018, May 9). Mormon Church Breaks All Ties with Boy Scouts, Ending 100-Year Relationship. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/05/09/mormon-church-breaks-all-ties-with-boy-scouts-ending-100-year-relationship/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.09d5add05eea. Accessed October 30, 2018.
Scott, K. (2003). Funding Matters: The Impact of Canada’s New Funding Regime on Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations. Ottawa: Canadian Council on Social Development.
Smith, R., & Lipsky, M. (1993). Nonprofits for Hire: The Welfare State in the Age of Contracting. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Smith, S. R., & Phillips, S. D. (2016). The Changing and Challenging Environment of Nonprofit Human Services: Implications for Governance and Program Implementation. Nonprofit Policy Forum, 7(1), 63–76.
Wamsley, L. (2018, May 9). Mormon Church Will Sever Ties with Boy Scouts, Create Own Youth Program. NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/09/609697466/mormon-church-will-sever-ties-with-boy-scouts-create-own-youth-program. Accessed September 15, 2018.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Akingbola, K., Rogers, S.E., Baluch, A. (2019). Nature of Change in Nonprofit Organizations. In: Change Management in Nonprofit Organizations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14774-7_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14774-7_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-14773-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-14774-7
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)