Doctor of Education / Department of Educational Leadership / W. Franklin Spikes / Non-profit organizations come in many shapes and sizes and in some cases, encompass a significant portion of community organizations. Since these agencies are largely sustained by the work of volunteers, it is a worthy subject to examine. The diversity and complexity of non-profits available among communities presents a need for volunteers’ to be skilled, trained, and experienced in an array of arenas. Non-profit organizations depend on volunteers and allow these entities to reach a larger population than exclusively with the limited staff members available (Fisher & Cole, 1993). This notion suggested the topic of motivation and retention of volunteers among community non-profits for the focus of this study to help organizations effectively deliver their mission. More specifically, this investigation centered on people who are considered high-functioning by the administrators with whom they work through the process of interviews. Non-profit organizations located in Denver, Colorado were selected to participate. The administrators of the chosen agencies were contacted and asked to identify volunteers in their program they classify as high-functioning. Once this list was identified, these individuals were contacted and asked to participate in an interview. This study focused on high-functioning volunteers for data collection because it was anticipated their characteristics and viewpoints will aid in the understanding of motivation and retention factors for anyone working with and supervising volunteers in the 21st century. The findings from the study provide a diverse assessment of the topic of volunteer motivation and retention. The data collected suggests that adult volunteers have varying needs and the importance for volunteer administrators to take these differences into consideration in their management and programming efforts.

Performance management research in the private and public sector has received much attention in management accounting research; however, empirical studies on performance management in the non-profit sector remain scarce. This study proposes and validates a model that explains the relationships between contingency variables, performance management practices, and organisational effectiveness in the non-profit sector. The study employed a mixed methods research approach, which entailed a field study and a cross-sectional survey in the Kenyan non-profit sector. The field study was undertaken to understand the perceptions of NPO leaders on non-profit sector characteristics, organisational effectiveness, determinants, challenges, and benefits of implementation of performance management systems in the Kenyan non-profit sector. Thereafter, a cross-sectional survey (using mailed questionnaires and an online survey) was used to collect quantitative primary data. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the quantitative data. The structural equation modelling approach was adopted to test the hypothesised relationships among the contingency factors, performance management practices and organisational effectiveness. The findings indicate that performance management in NPOs can be categorised into three groups: performance planning, performance measurement and performance context. The NPOs emphasise mission statements and core values within the formal PM system. Although a number of private sector measurement frameworks are utilised, the NPOs mostly use logical framework, with emphasis on output and financial measures and team based targets with no clear rewards. The PM systems are resource intensive and they lead to goal displacement and narrow definition and measurement of organisational effectiveness. The results further reveal that among the contingency variables, strategic orientation significantly predicted performance management practices and organisational effectiveness in non-profits. Among the performance management variables, performance planning, performance targets, and performance rewards significantly predict organisational effectiveness domains. Furthermore, performance management practices mediate the relationship between strategic orientations, technology, information technology, leadership and external environment and organisational effectiveness domains. However, organisational size was not significantly related to performance management practices or organisational effectiveness. To successfully implement and benefit from the PM system, non-profit organisations need to address the fit between contextual factors and the performance management system. By employing a pragmatic, embedded, mixed methods approach this study provides empirical evidence of performance management practices that influence organisational effectiveness beyond the rhetoric of performance management theory. At the practice level, the findings will benefit Kenya government, non-profit organisations, donor agencies and performance evaluation practitioners.

Bakgrund och problem: Lärande inom organisationer har effekt på hur organisationer hanterar förändring och anpassar sin organisation för en förbättrad effektivitet, vilket kan leda till konkurrensfördelar. Det är intressant att se på ideella organisationer och deras lärande funktion då organisationsformen skiljer sig från den privata sektorn där företag i större utsträckning arbetar med lärande mer strukturellt medan ideella organisationer ofta baserar sin lärande funktion på lösa samtal. Vår undersökning tar avstamp från detta och mer specifikt i den ideella organisationen KFUM Sverige. Eftersom det är en organisation som sysslar med en rad olika aktiviteter har vi valt att smala av undersökningsområdet till de basketföreningar som har koppling till KFUM. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur KFUM arbetar som lärande organisation och hur de lokala KFUM-basketföreningarna har arbetat för att öka medlemsantalet. Potentiellt kan vi få en bild av hur en ideell organisation arbetar som en lärande organisation och huruvida de tar tillvara på intern kunskapsförmedling mellan sina underföreningar. Metod: Vår studie grundar sig i en djupare förståelse för dels människors agerande men även rutiner och arbetssätt inom olika föreningar, valde vi att genomföra intervjuer med personer från basketföreningar med KFUM-anknytning samt en intervju med personen som arbetar som kommunikationsansvarig hos KFUM Sverige, vars arbetsuppgifter behandlar kommunikation med KFUM:s föreningar i hela Sverige. Resultat och slutsats: Efter genomförd studie kan vi dra slutsatserna att KFUM:s basketföreningar är förändringsbenägna och de arbetar som lärande organisationer på individuell nivå men att KFUM Sverige, på nationell nivå, har brister i sin lärande förmåga. Vi anser att detta skulle kunna förbättras genom införande av system som gynnar kunskapsdelning och att organisationen i sig behöver arbeta för att förbättra sin organisatoriska identitet då detta är ett sätt för organisationen att få en organisationskultur som främjar lärande mellan de lokala föreningarna.

Purpose The purpose of the study is to explain what affect customers’ relationship commitment to non-profits organizations. Methodology This study employs the quantitative approach with the help of webbased survey. Findings Relationship commitment has two direct antecedents, namely trust and relationship benefits. Communication between organization and customers has an indirect effect on relationship commitment which is partially mediated by trust. The relationships between constructs are controlled by the length of the membership in the organization. Research limitations/implications The study has several managerial implications. Thus, the established associations between relationships constructs adopted from for-profit industries do not fully explain the drivers of customers’ relationship commitment in the non-profit sector. The special attention should be payed to establishing the successful two-ways communication with the customers in order to facilitate commitment. Theoretically-wise, the study re-examines the earlier established model in the new context and by doing so introduces the new model which is relevant for the context of customers of non-profit organizations. The study however has some limitation such as an application of convenience sample, a limited availability of the survey, a possible language barrier. Originality/value The study proposes the new model which explains commitment and its antecedents in the context of customers’ relationship with non-profit organizations. Keywords Commitment, non-profit organizations, relationship marketing, quantitative study

Thesis advisor: Eric G. Strauss / The study of human interactions with nature in the context of urban environments has evolved over the past fifty years. Early writers who were able to view urban areas as ecosystems planted the seeds for what is today an important and growing movement across the United States. They paved the way for later scholars to develop human- and ecologically-based natural histories, to imagine land uses, urban planning and development in new and sustainable ways, and to reinforce the spiritual and emotional bond between humanity and nature. In the last ten to fifteen years, organizations in urban areas around the United States have begun to look at planning and development with both an ecological lens and a focus on community-based, grassroots organizing. The layers of information available for study in an urban area are many and complex, providing an immense amount of data to those who choose to study cities. This study will first trace the theoretical development in understanding urban ecosystems, touching on important themes and groundbreaking authors. Subsequent chapters will build on the foundation laid by these authors in an exploration of the current practical use of urban ecology in the field, focusing on community-based organizations throughout the country. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2005. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

<p>Introduction</p><p>This paper focuses on the Internet and more specifically on how non-profit organizations can use the Internet to enhance their online presence. Our choice of research object is Automation Region (AR), a non-profit cluster organization, whose purpose is to strengthen and make the cluster of companies within industrial automation in Mälardalen visible. This cluster consists of business-to-business companies in the automation industry and AR was formed to increase the productivity, growth and profitability of these companies. The organization has two goals set up, which include: (1) increased exposure for the automation industry as well as the region wherein AR operates and (2) attracting the best competence as well as getting youths and children interested in automation. AR currently has a website (www.automationregion.com) and the overall purpose for it is to support AR's goals. However, we have a difficulty seeing how this website, as it looks and functions today, is to achieve the goals and objectives of the cluster organization and we also find it difficult to see how AR should do in order to expose its website and its brand to its target audience. The two research questions then becomes: How is Automation Region's website being used today? How can Automation Region utilize the Internet to achieve its goals?</p><p>Purpose</p><p>The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of how cluster organizations like Automation Region may use the Internet to achieve its goals, and by doing this also be able to give recommendations on how Automation Region can benefit from the use of the Internet as their primary channel for goal achievement.</p><p>Method - An Action Research based study</p><p>This paper is based on an action research approach, which contains a real world problem, a framework of ideas, and a set of methodologies. The different means of collecting data used in this paper can be categorized in four separate categories: interviews, internet analysis tool, benchmarking, and other empirical data collected.</p><p>Framework of ideas</p><p>Our framework of ideas consists of an introduction to the term clusters, which then explains the different actors on the cluster stage. Then the benefits of clusters are discussed, leading to a further discussion on how non-profit cluster organizations can utilize the possible benefits of a cluster. This leads to a presentation of different ways to improve an organizations online presence.</p><p>Analysis</p><p>The analysis is divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the results of the website analysis, where different reports from the web analysis program are analyzed. This will show how the website currently is being used and should lead to conclusions on how this usage can be improved. The second part focuses on the available Internet tools and how AR can utilize these to reach their explicit goals for the cluster organization.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The so called internal visitors are plentiful on AR's website site and we can conclude that the site is being used in an Intranet like way. Another conclusion is that AR should be able to increase the probability of achieving their goals by further enhancing the use of the Internet tools they currently have (website and e-mail), and also by expanding their online presence with the use of several other potential Internet tools.</p>

<p>Today the world faces a lot of societal challenges in the economical, social and environmental spheres that needs to be overcome. Global warming, poverty and increasing economic inequality are only some of these challenges. The public debate has been focused on finding solutions to them and one of these has been addressed as social entrepreneurship. This phenomenon is about the era of the new type of entrepreneurs – social entrepreneurs – that recognize these challenges as opportunities that can be exploited in a both profitable and sustainable manner. Social entrepreneurship has in this way emerged as an interesting phenomenon and a new area in the entrepreneurship research.</p><p> </p><p>This study examines the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship by scrutinizing the concept SIFE - Students In Free Enterprise. SIFE is a non-profit organization that claims to be actively engaged in working with social entrepreneurship. The general purpose of this study is to bring a deeper understanding of the social entrepreneurship phenomenon, by describing the particular purpose, the case of SIFE Umeå University as a social entrepreneurship model. Our study is a qualitative case study using semi-structured interviews. Six respondents have been interviewed from different levels of the organization - SIFE Umeå University - in order to reflect the entire organization. We have used a deductive approach by establishing a theoretical framework that guided the interviews and has been used in the analysis of the empirical data.</p><p> </p><p>The main conclusions in this study show that SIFE Umeå University’s work with social entrepreneurship is mainly about socioeconomic and personal development. Another conclusion is that cooperation with partners from different sectors of the society is an important fundament in their work with social entrepreneurship. Furthermore, SIFE Umeå University can be considered as hybrid of a voluntary organization and social enterprise since it includes similarities of both organizational forms. Moreover, the study shows that entrepreneurial skills play an important role in SIFE Umeå University’s work with social entrepreneurship. Finally, we can from this study draw the conclusion that SIFE Umeå University’s work with social entrepreneurship can be divided in six steps: Target group, Job/life training, Commercial enterprises, Personal development, Socioeconomic development, Partnership Network.</p>

Today the world faces a lot of societal challenges in the economical, social and environmental spheres that needs to be overcome. Global warming, poverty and increasing economic inequality are only some of these challenges. The public debate has been focused on finding solutions to them and one of these has been addressed as social entrepreneurship. This phenomenon is about the era of the new type of entrepreneurs – social entrepreneurs – that recognize these challenges as opportunities that can be exploited in a both profitable and sustainable manner. Social entrepreneurship has in this way emerged as an interesting phenomenon and a new area in the entrepreneurship research.   This study examines the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship by scrutinizing the concept SIFE - Students In Free Enterprise. SIFE is a non-profit organization that claims to be actively engaged in working with social entrepreneurship. The general purpose of this study is to bring a deeper understanding of the social entrepreneurship phenomenon, by describing the particular purpose, the case of SIFE Umeå University as a social entrepreneurship model. Our study is a qualitative case study using semi-structured interviews. Six respondents have been interviewed from different levels of the organization - SIFE Umeå University - in order to reflect the entire organization. We have used a deductive approach by establishing a theoretical framework that guided the interviews and has been used in the analysis of the empirical data.   The main conclusions in this study show that SIFE Umeå University’s work with social entrepreneurship is mainly about socioeconomic and personal development. Another conclusion is that cooperation with partners from different sectors of the society is an important fundament in their work with social entrepreneurship. Furthermore, SIFE Umeå University can be considered as hybrid of a voluntary organization and social enterprise since it includes similarities of both organizational forms. Moreover, the study shows that entrepreneurial skills play an important role in SIFE Umeå University’s work with social entrepreneurship. Finally, we can from this study draw the conclusion that SIFE Umeå University’s work with social entrepreneurship can be divided in six steps: Target group, Job/life training, Commercial enterprises, Personal development, Socioeconomic development, Partnership Network.

This paper discusses the nature of extractive industries operating in less developed countries and the exploitative image they are faced with. In order to address this issue, this paper presents a thorough analysis of societal marketing by considering social initiatives undertaken by corporations to enhance wellfare in the host country. The positive attributes of societal marketing are emphasized through bottom up development and exemplified through LAMCO case study. These factors, along with the invloved actors, all contribute to the enhancement of the corporate image.

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