History
The vision of the founders was to create an independent and impartial forum for researchers in the fledgling field of voluntary action and citizen participation. For a long time, AVAS’ annual conferences and quarterly journal were the only outlets available to scholars interested in this area of research. [2]
AVAS originally held parallel conferences with the Association for Volunteer Administration and the Association of Volunteer Bureaus. The first conference was held in Denver, Colorado in 1974. The first solo conference was held in 1982 in Lansing, Michigan. These annual conventions allowed the organization to fulfill its purpose, as stated in the by-laws, to "stimulate, coordinate, and otherwise aid the efforts of those engaged in research, other scholarship and professional activity related to the understanding and improvement of nonprofit organizations and voluntary action" by creating a face-to-face forum for idea exchange. [2]
AVAS’ publications were a major part of its contribution to the research community. The newsletter begun in 1973 and contained information about events and individuals in the research community as well as information specific to the organization. Citizen Participation and Voluntary Action Abstracts appeared originally as a supplement to the first newsletter, bringing together a variety of resources for researchers working in this interdisciplinary field. Volunteer Administration was published by AVAS until 1982, and is now published by the Association of Volunteer Administrators as the Journal of Volunteer Administration. The Journal of Voluntary Action Research (JVAR) begun in 1972 and was, for a long time, the only scholarly journal focusing on all aspects of voluntary action research. In 1986 JVAR attempted to broaden its focus to include the rapidly growing field of nonprofit study by adding a subtitle: Studies of Voluntarism, Citizen Participation, Philanthropy, and Nonprofit Organizations. 1988 heralded a new publisher for the journal, and an entirely new name- Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (NVSQ). More recently, the organization has collaborated with the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy on Research in Progress. [2]
ARNOVA's executive office moved from its original home at Boston College to Pennsylvania State University, and then again to the Lincoln Filene Center at Tufts University in 1986. In 1990 the office moved again to become loosely affiliated with the Department of Adult and Youth Education at Washington State University. Continuing financial problems and low membership throughout the 1980s caused Delwyn A. Dyer to convene a Strategic Planning Committee in 1988. Following the committee's recommendation, the board of directors voted to change the organization's name from the narrowly focused Association for Voluntary Action Scholars to the more inclusive Association of Researchers on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA). [2]
The planning process continued at a retreat on February 8–10, 1991, in Corpus Christi, Texas. Board members focused on the need to upgrade the association's services, enhance its reputation, and reach out to include a diverse, interdisciplinary group of researchers and practitioners interested in voluntary action and nonprofit study. Following the retreat, Kirsten Gronbjerg (co-president 1993-1994) prepared a document stating ARNOVA's goals to present to possible funders. [2]
A second retreat was held at lifetime member David Mason's ranch on March 19–21, 1993. Decisions made at the Mason Ranch Retreat resulted in the formalization of ARNOVA's relationships with Independent Sector and the academic centers, and the affiliation of NVSQ with the Program on Non-Profit Organizations (PONPO) at Yale University and the executive office with the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy in 1994. These affiliations strengthened ARNOVA's position as a research organization. Consequent funding from the Ford Foundation and the Kellogg Foundation gave the organization the wherewithal to become the "interdisciplinary fellowship of scholars" its founders had envisioned. [2]
The voluntary sector, independent sector, or civic sector is the realm of social activity undertaken by organizations that are non-governmental nonprofit organizations. This sector is also called the third sector, community sector, and nonprofit sector, in contrast to the public sector and the private sector. Civic sector or social sector are other terms for the sector, emphasizing its relationship to civil society. Richard Cornuelle coined the term "independent sector" and was one of the first scholars to point out the vast impact and unique mechanisms of this sector. Given the diversity of organizations that comprise the sector, Peter Frumkin prefers "non-profit and voluntary sector".
Peter Dobkin Hall was an American author and historian. He was Professor of History and Theory in the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College, City University of New York, and Senior Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations.
The term nonprofits research is used to describe the academic enterprise devoted to teaching and research on nonprofit organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), voluntary associations, voluntarism and voluntary action, philanthropy, civil society, and related activities. It is a loosely bounded, multidisciplinary, practice-oriented community.
Eliezer David Jaffe was an Israeli professor of social work specializing in philanthropy and non-profit management. He was Professor Emeritus at The Hebrew University's Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare.
Lester M. Salamon was a professor at Johns Hopkins University. He was also the director of the Center for Civil Society Studies at The Johns Hopkins Institute for Health and Social Policy Studies. Salamon has written or edited over 20 books in addition to hundreds of articles, monographs and chapters that have appeared in Foreign Affairs, The New York Times, Voluntas, and numerous other publications. He was a pioneer in the empirical study of the nonprofit sector in the United States, and is considered by many experts in his field to have been a leading specialist on alternative tools of government action and on the nonprofit sector in the U.S. and around the world.
The Commission on Private Philanthropy and Public Needs, better known as the Filer Commission, was formed in 1973 to study philanthropy, the role of the private sector in American society, and then to recommend measures to increase voluntary giving. Organized as a privately supported citizen's board, the Commission came into being through the efforts of John D. Rockefeller III, Wilbur D. Mills, George P. Shultz, and William E. Simon. The selection of participants on the Commission reflected a desire for diversity of experience and opinions and included heads of religious and labor groups, former cabinet secretaries, corporate and Foreign Securities Corporation and President of Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Edwin D. Etherington, Former President of Wesleyan University and Trustee of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
- Bayard Ewing, Tillinghast, Collins and Graham and Vice Chairman of United Way of America.
- Frances Tarlton Farenthold, Past Chairperson of National Women's Political Caucus.
- Max M. Fisher, Chairman of United Brands Company and Honorary Chairman of United Foundations.
- Reverend Raymond J. Gallagher, Bishop of Lafayette-in-Indiana.
- Earl G. Graves, Publisher of Black Enterprise and Commissioner of Boy Scouts of America.
- Paul R. Haas, President and Chairman of Corpus Christi Oil and Gas Company and Trustee of Paul and Mary Haas Foundation.
- Walter A. Haas Jr., Chairman of Levi Strauss and Company and Trustee of the Ford Foundation.
- Philip M. Klutznick, Klutznick Investments and Chairman of Research and Policy Committee and Trustee of Committee for Economic Development.
- Ralph Lazarus, Chairman of Federated Department Stores, Inc. and Former National Chairman of United Way of America.
- Herbert E. Longenecker, President Emeritus of Tulane University and Director of United Student Aid Funds.
- Elizabeth J. McCormack, Special Assistant to the President of Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Inc.
- Walter J. McNerney, President of Blue Cross Association.
- William H. Morton, Trustee of Dartmouth College.
- John M. Musser, President and Director of General Service Foundation.
- Jon O. Newman, Judge, U.S. District Court and Chairman of Hartford Institute of Criminal and Social Justice.
- Graciela Olivarez, State Planning Officer and Director of Council on Foundations, Inc.
- Alan Pifer, President of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
- George Romney, Chairman of the National Center for Voluntary Action.
- William Matson Roth, Regent of University of California and Chairman of San Francisco Museum of Art.
- Althea T. L. Simmons, Director for Education Programs of the NAACP Special Contribution Fund.
- Reverend Leon H. Sullivan, Pastor of Zion Baptist Church, Philadelphia.
- David B. Truman, President of Mount Holyoke College.
Nonprofit studies or nonprofit management is a multidisciplinary field of teaching and research that focuses on practices of the nonprofit sector and can date back to the 1920s. This area of inquiry examines the management and effectiveness of the nonprofit sector.
IUPUI University Library is the university library of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis. IUPUI is an urban campus of Indiana University and Purdue University in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Indiana University is the managing partner.
Lucas C.P.M. Meijs a Dutch organizational theorist and Professor Volunteering, Civil Society and Businesses at the department Business-Society Management of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Professor Strategic Philanthropy at the Erasmus Centre for Strategic Philanthropy.
The Muslim Philanthropy Digital Library (MPDL) is an online project by the American University in Cairo's John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement and the Center of Excellence for the Middle East and Arab Cultures, AUC Library) and Indiana University, that makes all forms of information on philanthropy available through original documents, reports, graphics, waqf registrations, as well as scholarly analysis in Muslim-majority countries and communities worldwide. Start-up funding for the library in Cairo was provided by The International Development Research Centre of Canada.
Peter Frumkin is a professor and published author whose research and teaching are focused in the areas of philanthropy, nonprofit management, and social entrepreneurship.
The RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service is a research center at University of Texas at Austin located in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. The teaching and research of the RGK Center are focused in the areas of nonprofit organizations, philanthropy, social entrepreneurship, and volunteerism.
Burton A. Weisbrod is an American economist who pioneered the theory of option value, and the theory of why voluntary nonprofit organizations exist, He also developed the methodology for valuing voluntary labor. He advanced methods for benefit-cost analysis of public policy by recognizing the roles of externality effects and collective public goods in program evaluation. He applied those methods to the fields of education, health care, poverty, public interest law, and nonprofit organization. Over a career of fifty years, he published 16 books and over 200 scholarly articles. He is currently the Cardiss Collins Professor of Economics Emeritus and a Fellow of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University.
Julian Wolpert is Bryant Professor Emeritus of Geography, Public Affairs, and Urban Planning at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, where he taught from 1973 to 2005 and chaired the Program in Urban and Regional Planning. He was previously a member of the Regional Science Department at the University of Pennsylvania (1963–73).
Brian O'Connell was an American author, academic, and public administrator who helped found Independent Sector, an organization that represents the interests of charities, foundations and nonprofit giving programs in the United States.
Jon Van Til is one of the pioneers in nonprofit organization research and education and the third sector, with particular interests in voluntary action, civil society and theories of the third sector. Dr. Van Til is Professor Emeritus of Urban Studies and Community Planning at Rutgers University, Camden.
The Association for Volunteer Administration (AVA) was created in 1961 as a nonprofit association for those that work with volunteers, in any setting. For more than 44 years, it was the largest professional association in the world for managers of volunteers. AVA hosted an annual conference in cities around the USA, a certification program for managers of volunteers, an online community and The Journal of Volunteer Administration (JOVA), and recognized outstanding managers of volunteers with a special award each year. AVA was dissolved in 2006 amid allegations of financial mismanagement by employees, the dismissal of three employees, including the executive director, the accumulation of more than $250,000 in debt, and lack of adequate financial and administrative oversight by the board of directors.
Susan J. Ellis was an American trainer, presenter, researcher and consultant regarding volunteerism. She founded the largest publisher of volunteer-related books, Energize, Inc., which has published more than 25 books and provided consultancy and training services for organizations worldwide that involve volunteers, including the Everyone Ready Online Volunteer Management Training Program. She wrote or co-wrote 14 books, wrote more than 100 articles for various publications and is cited in more than 150 articles and books re: volunteerism. She was frequently called on by national media outlets for commentary regarding volunteerism and was quoted in stories in The New York Times,Fortune Magazine, the Chronicle of Philanthropy and many others. She is considered a pioneer regarding the promotion of the management of volunteers as a profession. She was based in Philadelphia.
Amy Singer is a Professor of Ottoman and Islamic History at Brandeis University. Her major research areas are agrarian relations, philanthropy, and the city of Edirne.
Chao Guo is a public administration scholar. Currently, he is Professor of Nonprofit Management in the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also Associate Faculty Director of Fox Leadership International at Penn. His research focuses on technology and nonprofits, representation and advocacy, nonprofit governance, social entrepreneurship, and collaboration within and across the nonprofit, private, and government sectors. His research has been cited 4,371 times according to Google Scholar, with an h-index of 22 and an i10-index of 31.
