Author: Kristina Podesta

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Research Staff update

A new study by Dr. Kim and Dr. Mason explores how nonprofits adapted during COVID-19

This week, center researcher, Dr. Mirae Kim, and her coauthor, Dr. Dyana P. Mason, released a white paper entitled “A Shock to the Status Quo: Characteristics of Nonprofits That Make Strategic Decisions During a Crisis.” The study was prepared for Independent Sector, where Dr. Kim is a visiting scholar. The summary below was originally published on Independent Sector’s website, along with the full report.

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How did nonprofits change because of COVID-19?

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Authored by Dr. Mirae Kim (George Mason University), Independent Sector visiting scholar, and co-author Dr. Dyana P. Mason (University of Oregon)

Over the past three years, the nonprofit sector has undergone a profound change. A new study, spanning 2020 to 2023, examines the changes nonprofits made in response to COVID-19 and looks at the characteristics of the most adaptive nonprofits. 

The study, “A Shock to the Status Quo: Characteristics of Nonprofits that Make Strategic Decisions During a Crisis,” finds that the nonprofit sector displayed resilience and adaptation and provides a roadmap for nonprofit success during uncertainty. 

Many nonprofits recovered rapidly after 2020 and have implemented long-lasting changes since. Sixty percent of nonprofits have engaged in a strategic planning process since the pandemic, and 44% have added new online programs. 

Government partnerships during the crisis were crucial, as they influenced nonprofits’ growth or retrenchment. Volatility of government funding led to shifts in strategies. Nonprofits with changed government funding, whether increased or decreased, reported higher percentages of new programming. 

While not surprising, the study also shows that greater challenges bring more changes to nonprofits – even though some changes may not be positive, such as reducing workforce size or cutting programs. 

This study underscores the crucial role of government-nonprofit partnerships, adaptable leadership, and proactive planning for changes during a crisis. It provides a roadmap that nonprofit leaders can use to navigate ambiguity, embrace change, and forge a sustainable path toward growth and impact.

Download the full study

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ARNOVA conference attendees: Please join us for a reception on Friday, November 17.

Learn more about the GMU-NED project
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George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government will celebrate the launch of a major project focused on federal nonprofit employment data (George Mason University – Nonprofit Employment Data (GMU-NED) Project) and several special issues of Nonprofit Policy Forum (NPF), which is now hosted at George Mason University.

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Awards

Former Office of Management and Budget Executive Kathy Stack Receives the Paul L. Posner Award

Kathy Stack, a 27-year veteran of the White House Office of Management and Budget, is the recipient of the 2023 Paul L. Posner Federal Budgeting Career Legacy Award.

The award, sponsored by the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University and presented this year for the ninth time, recognizes those who over a career made an important and lasting contribution to the federal government’s budget process and institutions and demonstrated high personal integrity and dedication to public service. 

The award was presented May 31 at the annual lunch of the Office of Management and Budget/Bureau of the Budget Alumni Association in Washington, D.C.

“Kathy Stack embodies the best of federal career service,” said Steve Redburn, a former senior OMB official who presented the award to Stack. “Over her career in the White House Office of Management and Budget, she used every opportunity to enlarge the role of budget analysts and bring to bear the best evidence available to inform wise policy decisions and more effective use of resources. Her many contributions show her unique ability to combine creativity and practicality in the service of better government performance.”

Having served for seven years as Deputy Associate Director for Education, Labor, and Income Maintenance programs, Stack culminated her 27-year federal career at OMB by launching and leading its first “evidence team,” working to strengthen federal agency capacity to use evidence, evaluation, data, and outcome-focused program designs to improve program effectiveness.

After retiring from federal service in 2015, Stack served for several years as vice president at the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, where she helped federal, state, and local governments build capacity to use data and evidence to improve decision-making. As a Senior Fellow at the Yale Tobin Center for Economic Policy and an independent consultant, she continues to produce creative ideas for strengthening the use of data and evidence to improve the delivery of public services at all levels of government.

On receiving the Posner award, Stack stated, “What an incredible honor to receive this award.  I owe every success in my OMB career to amazing partners across the institution who joined forces to earn the trust of OMB and White House policy officials and creatively use policy, budget, and management levers to drive taxpayer resources to better uses.”

The Posner award is named for the late Professor Paul L. Posner, who served as director of the Schar School of Policy and Government’s Master’s in Public Administration program at Mason. He was former managing director for strategic issues at the U.S. General Accountability Office for 14 years, where he worked for 30 years. He died in July, 2017, at age 70. Past recipients of the award can be found here.

The annual award is made possible by a grant to Mason by alumni of the Bureau of the Budget, a group now merged with the Office of Management and Budget Alumni Association. It is administered by the Schar School’s Center on Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Social Enterprise.

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Events

2023 Community Partnership Forum convenes regional leaders to discuss workplace culture

On May 2, the 15th annual Community Partnership Forum brought together government, business, and nonprofit leaders from Northern Virginia and nearby areas to discuss the importance of workplace culture for hiring and maintaining a talented workforce and ensuring high organizational performance. The discussion was kicked off by Mark Schwartz, the County Manager for Arlington County, who described the ways the COVID-19 pandemic changed the nature of work for county employees and continues to present new challenges as the county seeks to find a balance between providing flexibility for its employees to work remotely while also giving them opportunities to feel connected.

Glenn Davidson and Emily Omrod from Deloitte Consulting LCC explained that Arlington County is not alone in seeking to strike this balance. In the first plenary session of the forum, they presented key workforce trends and action steps leaders can take to tackle the new challenges that are arising. Based on workforce surveys and data from across the globe, Davidson and Omrod indicated that workers are feeling exhausted and are resigning and moving locations at high rates. For example, they presented data from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that showed that more than 3 million fewer Americans are participating in the labor force in May 2023 compared to February 2020. These trends show up in the difficulty many organizations have in attracting and maintaining employees. In this context, Davidson and Omrod advocated for humanizing work, which might involve helping employees develop their human skills (e.g., empathy, curiosity), and focusing on “micro-credentials” rather than full academic degrees as prerequisites for jobs where appropriate. To conclude their remarks, they also urged organizational leaders to actively build trust, create purpose for their employees, creatively orchestrate work environments, advocate for work-life balance, and facilitate connections.

Download Slides from the 2023 Community Partnership Forum Here:

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The forum continued with a panel of leaders from the government, for-profit, and nonprofit sectors. Jeff T.H. Pon, 11th Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, facilitated the discussion. He asked panelists about the approaches they used to build and maintain workplace culture as the COVID-19 pandemic changed the nature of work. As Sharon Camper (Chief People Officer, Apple Federal Credit Union), Kerrie Wilson (Chief Executive Officer, Cornerstones), and Cathy Schafrik (Director, Human Resources, Fairfax County Government) spoke about their experiences, it became clear that what works for one organization may not work for others. Yet, a common thread across sectors was the importance of listening to the needs of employees and meaningfully connecting the day-to-day work of employees to the mission or impact of the organization. Examples of specific strategies the panelists used in their organizations included: providing additional compensation to workers whose job requires in-person work; making sure technology is not an additional stressor but helpful; and investing time and resources in activities that employees enjoy and will provide opportunities for connection. The bottom line is that building culture takes intentionality, but having an energized, committed workforce makes culture-building worth the investment. 

The closing keynote was presented by Olivia (Mandy) O’Neill, Associate Professor of Management in the School of Business at George Mason University. She focused on how organizations choose and communicate key values. She engaged the audience by showing several graphics about the organizational values of different companies and asked members of the forum audience how many of the same values (e.g., commitment, excellence, customer-focused, respect) appear in culture statements where they work. A count of raised hands indicated that many organizations, across sectors and with a broad range of goals, tend to use a limited set of terms to describe their culture. She then made the case that not all organizations can be all things, and by not being more strategic and focused in their choice of values, organizations make culture goals easy to ignore. O’Neill suggested that organizations should move to a greater focus on emotional culture, and urged leaders to take stock of how their employees feel and how the leaders want them to feel at work. For example, she explained that many people describe feeling stressed or anxious at work, and that it would help organizations to consider ways to help employees feel appreciated or experience awe. She concluded with several suggestions:

  • Understand how employees view the strengths and weaknesses of their workplace and choose leaders who will cultivate cultures that build on strengths and will engage employees to collaborate in tackling weaknesses.
  • Beware of unintentional consequences. High engagement and strong work relationships can be great for workplace culture but may also lead to burnout and inability to disconnect. Leaders should be aware of these possibilities and take steps to avoid them.
  • Take stock of observable and unobservable indicators of culture, from facial expressions and jargon to the beliefs and assumptions held by employees about their work. These indicators can help leaders assess their organizational culture and lead to adjustments that build stronger workplaces.

In addition to the formal presentations, leaders from across the region had opportunities during the forum to network and deepen cross-sector relationships. Participants were also able to engage with sponsors and learn more about their work.

The Center on Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Social Enterprise thanks all those who made this event possible, especially our co-hosts and sponsors!

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Announcement Events

‘Reimagining’ Nonprofits: It’s Time to Bring Equity and Justice to Philanthropy

This summary is reposted from the Schar School of Policy and Government’s Latest News page.

Nonprofit scholar Angela M. Eikenberry, second from left, is flanked by the professors at the Schar School’s Center on Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Social Enterprise. From left, Alan Abramson, Mirae Kim, and Stefan Toepler. Photo by Buzz McClain/Schar School of Policy and Government

“What if our nonprofit organizations and our research brought about emancipation, transformation, equity, and justice? What if our nonprofit organization workplaces brought out the best in us? What if our research supported these goals?”  

Those were the questions asked earlier this month by Angela M. Eikenberry, a professor at the School of Public Administration at the University of Nebraska Omaha and a past president of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA), which advances the field of nonprofit and philanthropic research by providing a forum for scholars, educators, and practitioners.

Eikenberry was the guest of George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government and its Center on Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Social Enterprise. Her April 10 talk at Mason’s Mason Square campus invited listeners to “reimagine” the way the nonprofit sector and philanthropy could operate.

The following are highlights from the presentation, Reveal, Repair, and (Re)Imagine: Reframing Philanthropy Theory and Practice:

  • Eikenberry pointed out the need for nonprofit and foundation leaders and scholars to examine current philanthropic systems and view them through a critical lens. Pulling on nonprofit scholarship, such as research by Bowling Green State University scholar Abhishek Bhati, Eikenberry explored the ways philanthropy has perpetuated histories of colonialism, paternalism, and other systems of oppression—pointing to the need for continued research into the intended or unintended consequences of current philanthropic structures.
  • Eikenberry explored ways philanthropy and nonprofit scholars can work to change systems and repair damages caused by current systems of power. She pointed to organizations doing this work, including the U.K.’s grant-making Edge Fund that seeks to end imbalances of wealth and power by rethinking grant-making systems.
  • Eikenberry ended by encouraging participants to ask big, bold “what if” questions that go beyond current philanthropic practices and to re-imagine the role nonprofit researchers can play to develop the kinds of systems and structures needed to get there.

For more information about the Schar School’s highly ranked nonprofit studies, see this site.