Research Reports and Books

Successful Technology Use in Small Grassroots Nonprofits
By Carol Silverman, Kevin Rafter and Arleda Martinez
This report examines how small nonprofits use technology and what it means for a nonprofit to use technology successfully. This report identifies factors that help and hinder small nonprofits’ ability to incorporate technology as a basic part of their operations and has implications for nonprofits, their funders, and technical assistance providers. This report is the result of a larger project on technology adoption in nonprofits supported by Community Technology Foundation of California
2007, 18 pp.
Full Report in PDF

General Operating Support: Research on Grantmaker Policies and Practices
By Carol Silverman, Kevin Rafter and Kathleen M. Fletcher
This study shows that foundations in California believe strongly in supporting nonprofits with their general operating expenses, and more than three quarters (78.8%) of the foundations surveyed made grants to support general operating expenses. Not all foundations agreed that it was wise to support these grants, however. Some believe the grants help support weak organizations, and many feel the funding should be used only as temporary support in times of transition or crisis. The study also showed that the foundation itself can be affected by granting funds for general operating support, because such grants can force the foundation to more clearly define its purpose and goals and to increase internal dialogue about how it can best achieve its mission.. Also, the study indicates that these grants can affect the relationship between foundations and grantees, permitting greater honesty in discussing what does and does not work.
2006, 22 pp.
Full Report in PDF

Silicon Valley's Changing Nonprofit Sector
By Kevin Rafter and Carol Silverman
This is the first in a series of regional reports about the nonprofit sector throughout California. In Silicon Valley, we found that there were 8,558 nonprofit organizations that earned $8.1 billion in 2003 and spent $7.7 billion. The largest group by field was human services which cover social services, youth development, recreation, employment, and criminal justice activities. The largest growth was in foundations, which increased by over 200 percent in Silicon Valley between 1994 and 2003. We also found that more organizations faced budget deficits by 2003 and that some communities are missing important services relevant to their social needs.
2006, 45 pp
Full Report in PDF

Board Accountability in Action: Report from the Symposium on Board Leadership for Nonprofit Integrity
By Kathleen M. Fletcher
The report summarizes the results from focus group discussions of board chairs and executive directors at a symposium held in April 2005 to explore issues of board accountability. Discussion topics included participants' personal sense of accountability for their organization's integrity, communication between the board chair and executive director, financial processes and reporting practices, board culture around inquiry and debate, conflicts of interest, board assessment, and the effect on the board of the current focus on accountability. The report includes recommendations for practice and implications for public policy.
2005, 84 pages
$29.95 BK015
Full Report in PDF (417 KB)

Giving and Volunteering in California
By Michael O'Neill and William L. Roberts
This statewide survey examines charitable giving and volunteering patterns in California. The survey, the first of its type in California, provides detailed data on charitable activities of California residents not available from national studies. The report also surveys charitable activities of three major ethnic groups - African-American, Hispanic & Latino, and Asian-Pacific Islanders - in Alameda County. In addition to the substantive focus of the surveys, there is special attention to the methodological issues involved in collecting valid, reliable data on charitable activity using a random-digit-dial telephone interview approach.
2000, 76 pages
Full Report in PDF (500 KB)

Ethics in Nonprofit Management, Expanded Edition
This collection of 40 teaching cases on ethical dilemmas facing managers and boards of nonprofit organizations deals with ethical aspects of human resource management, board activities, financial management, and fundraising and marketing. These realistic ethical dilemmas challenge students as well as nonprofit board and staff members. The cases were developed by nonprofit organization managers, consultants, ethicists, faculty members, and foundation leaders. Note: Permission is given to duplicate these cases for instruction.
1998, 210 pages
Full Report in PDF (550 KB)

California Nonprofit Organizations 1995
This report provides for the first time comprehensive statistical information on the California nonprofit sector, including the number and type of organizations, employment, finances, and membership. The report covers social service, health, educational, arts, community service, religious, grantmaking, and business service organizations.
1995, 186 pages
Full Report in PDF (3.3 MB)

Can We Make Welfare Reform Work: California Religious Community Capacity Study
By Scott D. Anderson, John Orr, and Carol Silverman
The California Religious Community Capacity Study looks at the ability of California religious organizations to address devolution and other changes in the welfare system. The survey collected data from a random sample of 1,100 of California’s 50,000 churches, temples, mosques, synagogues, and other religious organizations. Prepared with the California Council of Churches.
Full Report in PDF (1.3 MB)
Technical Report in PDF (289 KB)
Quantitative Findings in PDF (82 KB)

Institute Books Available from Other Publishers

Nonprofits and Technology - Emerging Research for Usuable Knowledge
Michael Cortes and Kevin Rafter, eds.
This edited collection provides an empirical foundation for usable knowledge about technology adoption in the nonprofit sector. Each chapter presents an original research project based on data and observations collected from nonprofits in the U.S. or Canada. Authors include both scholars and practitioners with first-hand experience with nonprofits and technology. This book seeks to promote and foster growth of a new and identifiable body of defensible knowledge about nonprofit uses of technology.
2007, 212 pp.
ISBN 978-1-933478-06-7

Available from Lyceum Books.

Nonprofit Nation: A New Look at the Third America
By Michael O'Neill
In Nonprofit Nation, the new edition of his classic work, The Third America: The Emergence of the Nonprofit Sector in the United States, O'Neill takes a fresh look at the nonprofit sector and the power it has to use its growing visibility and strength. Like the first edition, this new book is an up-to-date, comprehensive guide to understanding the nonprofit sector. Identifying and examining the major nonprofit subsectors-health care, arts, social service, and religious organizations, for example-and detailing their particular concerns and impact enable O'Neill to explore their influence on business, government and society.
September 2002, 236 pages
ISBN 1-55542-165-2

Available from Jossey-Bass Inc, Publishers

Philanthropy in Communities of Color
By Bradford Smith, Sylvia Shue, Jennifer Lisa Vest, and Joseph Villarreal
The Institute conducted a two-year study of giving, sharing, and volunteering within the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Mexican, Guatemalan, Salvadoran, and African American communities of the San Francisco Bay Area. This ethnographic study provides a richness of detail on ethnic philanthropic traditions and cultural practices that complements national and regional quantitative survey research on this topic.
March 1999, 176 pages
ISBN 0-253-33493-4

Available from Indiana University Press

Nonprofit Management Education: A U.S. and World Perspective
Edited by Michael O'Neill and Kathleen Fletcher
This book focuses on major issues concerning the development and implementation of nonprofit management education in the 1990s.
October 1998, 176 Pages
ISBN 0-275-96115-X

Available from Greenwood Publishing Group

Women and Power in the Nonprofit Sector
Edited by Teresa Odendahl and Michael O'Neill
This book examines the role of women in nonprofits, how women in nonprofits use power, who really holds the reins of power in the nonprofit sector, and the impact of the sector on women's lives and women's struggle for equality.
April 1994, 353 pages
ISBN 1-55542-650-6

Available from Jossey-Bass Inc, Publishers

Hispanics and the Nonprofit Sector
Edited by Herman E. Gallegos and Michael O'Neill
This book explores the important role of Hispanic nonprofit organizations in the Hispanic community and in the larger society. Eleven chapters by scholars, practitioners, and funders discuss the history of Mexican American and Puerto Rican nonprofits, the role of the Ford Foundation, Hispanic advocacy organizations, the role of religion in Hispanic nonprofit work, values issues, leadership issues, management techniques, fundraising needs, research needs, and the future role of Hispanic nonprofits.
March 1991, 195 pages
ISBN 0-87954-398-1

Available from The Foundation Center

Educating Managers of Nonprofit Organizations
Edited by Michael O'Neill and Dennis R. Young
This book examines the question of how to educate managers for nonprofit as distinguished from business and government organizations. Eleven chapters by scholars, practitioners, and funders discuss alternative approaches to nonprofit management education, the place of nonprofit programs in higher education, nonprofit managers in different fields of service, different types of nonprofit managers, managing nonprofits of different sizes, career scenarios, curriculum issues, and values underlying nonprofit endeavor.
May 1988, 190 pages
ISBN 0-275-92609-5

Available from Greenwood Publishing Group