On Being Nonprofit: A Conceptual and Policy Primer

Peter Frumkin

Published by Harvard University Press 2005

On Being Nonprofit

A Conceptual and Policy Primer

Peter Frumkin

https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674037403

Overview
Contents

About this book

Frumkin clarifies the debate over the nonprofit sector's privileged position in America by examining how nonprofits deliver services, promote civic engagement, express values and faith, and channel entrepreneurial impulses. He argues that long-term challenges facing nonprofits necessitate a greater balance among these four central functions.

Reviews

Frumkin's little volume captures accurately and provocatively the contested and continuously-changing nonprofit domain. Unblindered by nonprofitdom's self-serving myths, it candidly identifies both the strengths and weaknesses of America's fastest-growing organizational sector.
-- Peter Dobkin Hall, Harvard University

Peter Frumkin has just redefined the field of nonprofit and voluntary organizations. His lucid book gives all of us new insights on just what it means to be nonprofit-like, and advances the debate on a host of critical issues facing the nonprofit sector at this critical moment in history. Absolutely essential reading for anyone in and around the sector.
-- Paul Light, Brookings Institution

Both well-researched and clearly written, this sympathetic but unsentimental analysis of the nonprofit and voluntary sector is a first-rate addition to the literature. Because it is sophisticated in its conceptualizations, unfreighted by jargon and cant, and manageable in length, this insightful book should be indispensable to both graduate and advanced undergraduate students as well as to teachers and scholars looking for a compact overview of the field.
-- Laurence E. Lynn, Jr., University of Chicago

Peter Frumkin's book is an excellent introduction to the issues that the nonprofit sector faces today. It not only reviews the social science work done on the sector, but explores the policy questions that the sector faces in the 21st century.
-- Joseph Galaskiewicz, University of Arizona

This intelligent analysis sheds light on the meaning and operation of the nonprofit sector. Authorities, including those in government, have often portrayed nonprofits as merely forms of interest groups or, alternatively, service organizations that educate, feed, or otherwise assist some subset of society. This book makes clear that nonprofits include both of these types of organizations and others...Highly recommended.
-- W. P. Browne Choice

On Being Nonprofit is an excellent volume for the beginner, as well as a provocative volume for the experienced scholar. I hope this well-written book will stimulate more theorizing about the nature, functions, and contributions of such third sectors in various societies.
-- Virginia A. Hodgkinson Contemporary Sociology

Frumkin's book ties together, in one place, many strands of thought about the nonprofit sector, and will serve as an important resource for scholars. Exceptionally well-written and easy to understand...Frumkin gives us the kind of intellectual tour of the sector that those of us who call ourselves 'nonprofit scholars' have needed for a long time.
-- Arthur C. Brooks Public Administration Review

The book's strong features are its inclusive conceptual framework, its consideration of current debates and controversies, and its exploration of a series of basic tensions that seem inherent in the nonprofit sector due to its diversity. These are challenges that academics, practitioners, policy makers, and other nonprofit stakeholders must understand.
-- Wolfgang Bielefeld Nonprofit And Voluntary Sector Quarterly

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	v
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
1. The Idea of a Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Civic and Political Engagement Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
3. Service Delivery Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	64
4. Values and Faith Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	96
5. Social Entrepreneurship Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
6. Balancing the Functions of Nonprofit and Voluntary Action Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	163
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 224

eBook

Published: July 1, 2009
ISBN: 9780674037403