Recent studies raise an uncharitable question: Is nonprofit accounting off track?

Nonprofit managers who develop social purpose ventures to generate revenues to support a social mission have limited opportunities to share their experiences with others in the field or to learn from the experiences of others. Many nonprofit managers also have modest business backgrounds. Yet, despite these challenges, the movement toward income generation by nonprofits continues to grow. Some of these ventures succeed, yet many more fail to meet either their social or financial goals. Clearly, the field lacks well-defined criteria, standards, and strategies for achieving success in this area. The potential payoff from the diffusion of learning appears to be substantial. This paper offers a first step in the process.

Corporations aren't alone in focusing on governance; rigorous oversight of management and performance is increasingly important for nonprofits too.

We have business and we have government. For too many intents and purposes, we have nothing in between. This distinction has framed the great social debate for more than a century: capitalism versus socialism, markets versus controls, individualism versus collectivism, privatization versus nationalization, "free enterprise" versus "democracy of the proletariat." The debate features no cooperatives, no NGOs, no not-for-profits, no volunteer organizations, not because they don't exist--clearly they are present in large numbers--but because they have been forced aside by this simplistic divide. In a sense, this is a problem of labeling.

Business plan competitions are a powerful way to help nonprofits turn ideas into sustainable commercial ventures.

The federation structure remains a viable model for nonprofit organizations - if managements transform themselves and affiliates collaborate more closely.

Alumni represent a deep reservoir of time, money, and talent. Here's how nonprofit organizations can foster enduring relationships with them.

Corporations could learn a lot from the intensity of nonprofits. Are they willing to listen?

Teach For America learned the importance of building organizational capacity the hard way.

Former HBS professor Jeff Bradach shares practical advice on how nonprofits can improve their strategy and produce measurable results for their cause and donors.

Society pays a price when foundations and nonprofit organizations stockpile their assets. Donors should ask not just how, but how soon, their gifts will be used.

This report provides decision-makers in business and environmental nonprofits with the practical tools required to launch or improve effective partnerships. Designed as a compendium of best practices and key learnings, this report targets practitioners who recognize the enormous potential of nonprofit-industry partnerships but need a framework for approaching structured collaboration and a compact, handy reference to aid implementation. Our objective is to outline critical success factors and offer actionable tools in a user-friendly yet rigorous guidebook for practitioners.

Are you working for a nonprofit or promoting a social cause? Many of the for-profit rules about marketing strategy apply there, too.

Nonprofits are wasting billions through inefficient business practices. A Harvard Business Review excerpt co-authored by former senator Bill Bradley offers fixes.

Editor's Note: This article doesn't offer a detailed prescription and I found some of the logic to suffer from excessive enthusiasm and theory but the concept addressed is an important one and the facts given are useful and interesting.

As the nonprofit sector grows and organizations become increasingly complex, more and more executives are being invited to lend their skills as board members. Here are eight principles for effective governance that can help a broad range of nonprofit groups be more successful.

Multi-site nonprofit organizations shouldn't be run like companies that make money, say HBS professors Allen Grossman and V. Kasturi Rangan. The key for nonprofit managers is to embrace a balance between affiliation and autonomy.

Nonprofit organizations should consider creating wealth rather than merely redistributing it.

The problem: Find a way to get more bang for the buck out of charitable donations. The strategy: Adopt techniques that worked well for venture capital firms in the 1990s - greater interaction between giver and recipient, and an emphasis on measurable results. The upshot: The birth of the movement variously called "venture philanthropy," "social entrepreneurism," "strategic philanthropy," and "e-philanthropy." But is it really a new model for charitable endeavors that even mainstream non-profits should adopt, or is it just a fad?

Editor's Note: This article is part of a special series on social entrepreneurship. Others (of varying quality) include
Social Entrepreneurs: Playing the Role of Change Agents in Society
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/articles.cfm?catid=9&articleid=766

Globalization With a Human Face - and a Social Conscience
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/articles.cfm?catid=9&articleid=770

Images of Illness: OneWorld Health Strives to Heal the World's Poorest Communities
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/articles.cfm?catid=9&articleid=771

A New Model for Corporate Charitable Giving
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/articles.cfm?catid=9&articleid=767

Many NonProfits Now Combine Social Mission with For-Profit Mentality
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/articles.cfm?catid=9&articleid=772

The Triple Bottom Line: Student Activists Demand More from B-Schools
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/articles.cfm?catid=9&articleid=773

Forging a Link Between Shareholder Value and Social Good
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/articles.cfm?catid=9&articleid=774

Environmental Camps, Rice Farms and Hearing Aids: Ashoka Fellows Around the World
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/articles.cfm?catid=9&articleid=775

Can Corporate Philanthropy Promote Regional Growth?
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/articles.cfm?catid=9&articleid=776

Nonprofit organizations should focus on building a lasting organization and on developing effective performance metrics. To make this possible, donors must change their approach to philanthropy.

Americans expect results from their business, government, and nonprofit organizations. We also expect information about the performance of those institutions: Who's in charge? How is money spent? And what have they accomplished? In the business world, the demands imposed by lenders and investors -- and, of course, the Securities and Exchange Commission -- force companies to disclose precise details of their operations -- earnings, expenses, performance, and levels of executive compensation relative to peer groups.

Yet when it comes to 39 percent of the national economy -- the nearly $3 trillion consumed by government and social sector organizations -- Americans have few instruments for collecting information and comparing results. For all the talk of reinventing government and strengthening the social sector, there is still no way to systematically gather and disclose information about their performance.

Every nonprofit organization should measure its progress in fulfilling its mission, its success in mobilizing its resources, and its staff's effectiveness on the job.

Note: CEO Refresher articles are no longer free...

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Partnering with a nonprofit can provide a company with not only an enhanced company image but also the process can be fulfilling to the team when goals are met. Careful attention to the process of choosing your partner and then managing the partnership will provide your company with the goals you are looking for as well as having a positive impact on your non-profit partner.

Article, an excerpt from the book On Being Nonprofit, examines the three features of nonprofit and voluntary organizations:
(1) they do not coerce participation;
(2) they operate without distributing profits to stakeholders; and
(3) they exist without simple and clear lines of ownership and accountability

The usual question echoing in the hallways of nonprofit organizations is, What do donors want? The more pertinent question is, What do donors need? One way to answer this question is to examine the remarkable success and consequent challenges of one of the fastest growing sectors of American philanthropy: community foundations.

Editor's Note: this article applies Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs to the nonprofit world.

"To a non-profit organization, the brand is perhaps the most important asset they have. Many corporations actually carry the worth of the brand on their balance sheets; for example, the Coca-Cola* brand is said to be worth $13 billion. However, non-profits are often at a disadvantage when it comes to branding. After all, they don't have the deep pockets of corporations who can afford to hire brand specialists, nor do they have staffers whose job is to protect the integrity of the brand, and promoting it at every turn. But successful branding of the charity can have a great effect on the awareness and fundraising of the charity and its mission. If you have built and promoted the brand well, it is like having an introduction in the person's mind, or having a door opened. A strong brand creates trust and builds recognition, which can - properly managed - be parlayed into affinity, loyalty, and a relationship."