Does Covid Portend a Shocking Future for Nonprofits?

COVID-19 caught many nonprofit leaders by surprise. The impact of the pandemic was unprecedented in recent history. Has this shock provided a wake-up call for nonprofits to better prepare for possible future shocks, notably those related to climate change? This article presents a number of questions that have emerged from the COVID-19 experience, pro- vides several sources of guidance on preparedness planning, and notes the opportunity for new courses to address lead- ership needs for preparedness.

Developing Workforce Capability in Nonprofits Through Effective Leadership

Leaders of nonprofit organizations in the United States must build workforce capabilities to meet increasing demands for services. This single-case study explored strategies nonprofit leaders used to build workforce capability to address increasing service demands. The conceptual lens for this study was the full-range leadership theory. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with senior executives of a single nonprofit organization located in the Midwestern region of the United States, which included internal organizational and workforce performance data, strategy plans, annual reports internal and external financial documents, and publicly available information. Four major themes related to building workforce capacity emerged from a thematic analysis of the data: (1) an emphasis on employee development, (2) the expansion of technology systems, (3) a concentration on developing a culture of autonomy and trust, and (4) the introduction of processes and measurements. The findings from this study might contribute to positive social change by providing nonprofit leaders with strategies and data to support a deeper understanding of how to effectively build workforce capability to address increasing service demands.

Competition and Collaboration in the Nonprofit Sector: Identifying the Potential for Cognitive Dissonance

Nonprofits compete with collaborators and collaborate with competitors regularly. Collaboration, a long-standing normatively preferred strategy for nonprofits, is utilized as modus operandi without thought to the potential unintended consequences. While competition is a dirty word for nonprofits, it is a necessary but undesirable reality and should not be avoided without consideration to the potential benefits. Nonprofit leaders may not be willing to explicitly acknowledge the use of competition as an operational strategy, which makes room for cognitive dissonance to impact the study of nonprofits. This piece identifies impacts of cognitive dissonance offering direction for future research exploring the interactive nature of competing with collaborators.