Welcome to Research Friday! As part of a continuing weekly series, each Friday we invite a nonprofit expert to highlight a research report or study and discuss how it can inform and improve day-to-day nonprofit practice. We welcome your comments and feedback.
"Citizens should seek opportunities to create and share public knowledge and discuss public issues; expect their governments to be open, transparent and collaborative; volunteer to the best of their ability; and create and share knowledge about the networks and relationships in their communities."

How many times have we heard a pronouncement starting with, "Never before have we needed ____ more?" I'm not sure that never before have we needed civic engagement more, but I do suggest that reviving civic communication will contribute to healthier communities. And I could argue that such might energize a greater level of civic engagement, which could contribute to a strengthened democracy.

This thought is not original; it is outlined in a recent policy paper by Peter Levine of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University. Levine's paper, Civic Engagement and Community Information: Five Strategies to Revive Civic Communication, commissioned by the…

We at the ASU Lodestar Center have been wanting to do a major overhaul of our newsletter for quite a while. As many of you are undoubtedly aware, the Lodestar Center Nonprofit News is a hugely useful newsletter with gobs and gobs of valuable information. It is one of our Center's "flagship" offerings, and we constantly receive positive feedback about it. However, it can be argued that the very things that have made the newsletter valuable to so many members of our community are paradoxically the things that can also make it seem overwhelming and inaccessible. In a word, the newsletter has outgrown its current format and needs some serious attention from Extreme Makeover, Weight Loss Edition.

We have some exciting changes in store for the Lodestar Center Nonprofit News. For example, later this fall we are preparing to launch a new, interactive, searchable job board that will eventually take the place of the Job Opportunities section of the newsletter. We will still link to job postings from the newsletter, but the new jobs site will be much more user-friendly and effective than our current format.

So, in the spirit of collaboration and transparency, we would love to hear from you, our readers, about what kinds of changes you might like to see in our NEW newsletter. While we obviously will not be able to accommodate every request, we will do our best to acknowledge and implement the feedback we receive from our readers.

…

If you're reading this, you've probably already been indoctrinated into the idea that nonprofit has some particular useful meaning. Not everybody thinks so, or has thought so for very long.

The quibble is that this "sector" is really a whacky collection of radically different organizations. Who would put hospitals in the same bucket as credit unions, and then throw operas in, too? Who thinks social service organizations should fly under the same banner as those that organize the public for political change?

So, these things are all defined under one section of a messy tax code. Is that really a reason to study, talk about, and define a professional identity of a "nonprofit sector?" Better maybe, for the different pieces to keep to themselves, with their own methods, language, and professional development programs? Maybe. My favorite historian, Peter Dobkin Hall, wrote a defining essay in one of his…

Welcome to Research Friday! As part of a continuing weekly series, each Friday we invite a nonprofit expert to highlight a research report or study and discuss how it can inform and improve day-to-day nonprofit practice. This week we welcome Dr. Lili Wang as she provides insight into the Hispanic volunteering community.

With the increasing diversity of the American society and the current low level of formal volunteering among minority population, scholars and practitioners of the nonprofit sector are becoming increasingly concerned with the factors that promote volunteering, especially for minorities. Understanding the determinants of Hispanic volunteering and the types of volunteer work that interest Hispanics can help nonprofit organizations target their recruiting efforts and tailor their programs to the Hispanic population.

In 2010, the United States Census recorded over 50 million Hispanics in America, making the Hispanic population is the largest minority group in the States. That number is projected to grow over 100 million by 2050. That means Hispanics' share of the nation's total population would nearly double, from 12.6% in 2000 to about 25% in 2050 (United States Census Bureau, 2004).

About 40% of Hispanics in the U.S. are foreign-born immigrants, and 70% are concentrated in seven states: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Illinois, Arizona, and New Jersey. Given the size and rapid growth of the…

We've all heard the phrase "wearing multiple hats." For many nonprofit organizations and associations, this is not only a skill that's desirable from potential and current employees, but is sometimes mandatory when resources and/or staff are otherwise limited. But, when organizations are faced with limited resources and staff, how do they adjust while still serving their mission successfully? Introducing: the Association Management Company (AMC).

What are Association Management Companies?

AMCs are exactly what they sound like: companies that assist in the management duties of one or more associations. They answer the call when resources, staff, and volunteers are not enough to successfully fulfill an organization's mission. They provide a multitude of services that relieve the pressure from organizations and can sometimes provide services and resources that may not be readily available from the organization itself. In essence, the AMC model serves as a comprehensive management solution for organizations large and small, offering a myriad of services: from staffing and board member training, to strategic planning and financial management.

Benefits of Using an AMC
For these reasons, there is a wide range of benefits that organizations and associations can receive from partnering with the right AMC.

• Financial Efficiency…