Winter 2008 - Digital Issue

Building the Power Grid

Winter 2008: Volume 15, Issue 4

Features

• The Nonprofit Ethicist
  In the competitive marketplace, should you offer higher salaries to retain an eroding staff? by Woods Bowman
  
  
• Dancing with Uncertainty: Keeping the Heat and Lights on in the Nonprofit Sector
  What have the nonprofit and philanthropic infrastructures accomplished? What is their task? by the editors
  
  
• The U.S. Nonprofit Infrastructure Mapped
  Take a visual tour through the overlapping structure of organizations on which nonprofits and philanthropy depend. by David O. Renz
  
  
• Accelerants: The Nonprofit Infrastructure on Fire
  If it didn’t exist, there would be a movement to create it. by Elizabeth Boris
  
  
• Four Futures
  Not all future nonprofit scenarios are rosy. by Paul Light
  
  
• Infrastructure in Action: Bolstering Nonprofit Community Developers
  The nonprofit community development infrastructure provides a compelling example of how infrastructure should work and what happens when it doesn’t. by Rick Cohen
  

Commentary

• One Step Removed: The U.S. Nonprofit Sector and the World
  In other countries, the kind of innovation that is vital for the future of U.S. nonprofits abounds. by Geoff Mulgan
  
  
• Nonprofits: The DNA of Democracy
  The nonprofit sector is the doorway through which millions of Americans pursue civic opportunities that are the hallmark of a healthy democracy. by Cynthia M. Gibson
  
  
• Nonprofits and Philanthropy: Scenario I—An Interview with Kelvin Taketa and Chris Van Bergeijk
  Nonprofits and one foundation are working to create a culture of mutual accountability in Hawaii. Can it work? by the editors
  
  
• Seizing the Day: Opportunity in the Wake of Crisis—An Interview with Lester Salamon
  Nonprofits can advance where for-profits fear to tread. by the editors
  
  
• Nonprofits and Philanthropy: Scenario II—An Interview with Ralph Smith
  The relationship between nonprofits and foundation philanthropists was once mutually exclusive, but not anymore. by the editors
  
  
• An Era of Powerful Possibility
  To face the new world order, we must abandon our practices of distrust, fragmentation, and control in favor of true collaboration between nonprofits and funders. by Margaret Wheatley
  
  
• Obama Campaign Provides Lessons for Nonprofits
  Go to school on the Obama campaign. by Paul Schmitz
  
  
• Substantial Activity: Building Nonprofit Political Heft
  The historic achievements of U.S. nonprofits are many, but those in the sector need to ensure that there will be many more to come. by Tim Delaney
  
  
• The Dialogue Challenge: Nonprofits’ Central Role in the Conversation
  Nonprofits need to participate in the dialogue on solutions to social and economic inequality. by James Jennings
  
  
• Weasels on the March: The Struggle for Charitable Accountability in an Indifferent Sector
  Why weasels can’t self-regulate and what should be done about it. by Dean Zerbe
  

Departments

Conflict

• Dr. Conflict
  A nonprofit employee’s off time is a sacred space, right? by Mark Light
  

Accountability

• Watchdog Wanted: Making the Case for Internal Oversight of the Nonprofit Sector
  It’s time for an independent nonprofit inspector general. by Scott Harshbarger and Steven Netishen
  

Strategies

• Hybrid Organizations: More Than Just a New Fuel—An Interview with Steve Dubb
  Can hybrid organizations perform better and deliver more than traditional nonprofits? by the editors
  

Technology

• The Opportunities and Dilemmas of Technology Support Organizations
  It’s not about technology; it’s about what you do with it. by Michael Gilbert
  

Advocacy

• Stoking the Nonprofit Advocacy Engine
  Strong advocacy makes for a strong nonprofit sector. by Gita Gulati-Partee
  

Research

• The Research System: A Public Utility on Which All Nonprofits (Should Be Able to) Depend
  Accomplishments notwithstanding, the nonprofit research infrastructure needs to move to the next level. by Jon Pratt
  
  
• The Take-Away
  A summary of the articles in this issue
  

Satire

• In Desperate Times, Bad News Is Good News for Fundraising
  In nonprofit politics, the commando approach has it pros and cons. by Phil Anthrop