Center on Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Social Enterprise

Category: Staff update

Mirae Kim was re-elected to the ARNOVA Board of Directors

In July 2022, the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) announced the results of their board elections! Mirae Kim was re-elected by ARNOVA membership to serve as a Member-at-Large!

Dr. Kim brings a wealth of experience to this role. Her research has been published in several scholarly outlets, contributing to the growth of nonprofit literature, and one of her articles was awarded the outstanding article in the NVSQ. Also, she has been serving as a co-editor-in-chief of the Nonprofit Policy Forum and has been leading the “Nonprofit Organization Research Panel” project. She has recently teamed up with several nonprofit scholars to create the platform for nonprofit panel data, which could bring much-needed resources for nonprofit scholars. During the 2021-2022 academic year, she has also been striving to be the bridge between scholarly work and nonprofit practitioners as a Visiting Scholar at Independent Sector.

In this role, Dr.Kim will be responsible for helping ARNOVA fulfill its mission to strengthen the field of nonprofit and philanthropic research in order to improve civil society and human life. To do this, the association brings together both theoretical and applied interests, helping scholars gain insight into the day-to-day concerns of third-sector organizations, while providing nonprofit professionals with connections to research they can use to improve the work of their organizations and the quality of life for citizens and communities.

The Center on Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Social Enterprise would like to congratulate the other candidates who were also elected to the ARNOVA Board of Directors:

  • Jasmine M. Johnson, re-elected to the Board as a Member-at-Large
  • Kelly LeRoux, elected as the new Board Secretary
  • Julia Carboni, Alisa Moldavanova and Nathaniel Wright, elected to the Board as Members-at-Large

New on the Site: Recent Publications from Center Staff!

Center researchers, Alan Abramson, Mirae Kim, and Stefan Toepler have recently published work on topics ranging from measuring the nonprofit sector’s health to benefit-based financing. A few of these publications are listed below and a full list of their most recent work can now be found on the center’s research page.

Nonprofit Organizations: Theory, Management, Policy

Helmut K. Anheier and Stefan Toepler­. Routledge (2022)

Book Description: In this new edition of the popular textbook, Nonprofit Organizations: Theory, Management, Policy, Helmut K. Anheier and Stefan Toepler have fully updated, revised, and expanded this comprehensive introduction to a growing field. The text takes on an international and comparative perspective, detailing the background and concepts and examining relevant theories and central issues.

Anheier and Toepler cover the full range of nonprofit organizations—service providers, membership organizations, foundations, community groups—in different fields, such as arts and culture, health and social services, and education. Introducing central terms such as philanthropy, charity, social entrepreneurship, social investment, and civil society, they explain how the field relates to public management and administration.

“Assessing the State of the US Nonprofit Sector: What Indicators Should We Use?”

Alan J. Abramson. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (2022)

Abstract: This research note identifies seven key dimensions of the nonprofit sector that nonprofit stakeholders want to monitor to assess the sector’s condition, including financial resources; human resources; the diversity of nonprofit boards, staff, and clients; the impact of the nonprofit sector; advocacy activity; ethical and legal behavior; and the existence of a supportive environment. The article then describes current measures of these dimensions, noting the shortcomings of many of these measures. Two government data sources, the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPAs) and the Current Population Survey (CPS), are highlighted that contain timely information about the nonprofit sector but which, to date, have been underutilized by sector stakeholders. Next, the article describes the picture of the nonprofit sector that emerges from the relevant measures before concluding with discussion of further work needed to improve measurement of the sector.

“Benefit-based revenue streams and financial health: The case of arts and cultural nonprofits”

Qiaozhen Liu and Mirae Kim. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (2022)

Abstract: A large number of empirical studies have discussed the revenue diversification strategy for nonprofits, but little attention has been paid to the components of revenue portfolios, even though each revenue source flows into a nonprofit with its own characteristics. Drawing on Young’s benefits theory, this study tests the proposition that a nonprofit would be stronger financially if its income portfolio reflected the mix of benefits it provides. We find evidence that the benefit-based revenue strategy is associated with better financial outcomes using the data set from DataArts (2008–2016). Yet, this relationship is not linear, and the positive relationship is seen only when the share of benefit-based revenues is above a certain threshold. A detailed examination reveals that the benefit-based revenue strategy should be employed judiciously, depending on each organization’s own capacity. We discuss the ways nonprofits can employ benefit-based financing while diversifying revenue streams.

“Contested Civic Spaces in Liberal Democracies”

Rupert Graf Strachwitz and Stefan Toepler. Nonprofit Policy Forum (2022)

Abstract: In this introductory essay for the special issue on contested spaces in liberal democracies, we review how and to what extent the closing or shrinking space debate that has influenced the civil society discourse in authoritarian contexts presents an appropriate mode of analysis for similar, disconcerting developments that have been observed in liberal democracies. In particular, recent changes in Germany, Austria, Israel, and Greece are covered in this issue. We suggest that while shrinking space mechanisms are observable, civil society is nevertheless experiencing new activism and growth. In contrast to authoritarian regimes, spaces in liberal democracies are increasingly contested reflecting both a politization of issues that nonprofits, NGOs or CSOs are working on, such as migration and climate change, but also a new civic agency that expands the political dimensions of civil society, embracing its more political functions

Recent Research from Center Staff



Mirae Kim is the new Director of GMU’s Master of Public Administration Program

The center’s own Mirae Kim is now the director of George Mason’s Master of Public Administration Program (MPA). Dr. Kim brings a wealth of experience to this new role! Before joining the Schar School, she was a faculty member at Georgia State University and taught at the University of Missouri. Currently, Dr. Kim also serves as a board member at the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) and is a visiting scholar at the Independent Sector.

Dr. Kim will be leading a highly-ranked and influential program. The MPA program at George Mason recognizes that sound leadership and management are vital to organizational and governmental effectiveness, and ensures students have the skills to take on senior-level positions in organizations that implement and manage public policies. Through the program, students are provided with a comprehensive understanding of how leadership, management, policy, and politics intersect, along with the tools to enhance communication, budgeting, and analytic skills. It is one of the largest MPA programs in the country and thousands of Schar School alumni are currently working in various roles in local, state, and national government, nonprofit management, and many other careers.

Center Director, Alan Abramson, wins lifetime achievement award.

The Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) has presented Alan Abramson with the Distinguished Achievement and Leadership in Nonprofit and Voluntary Action Research lifetime achievement award.

ARNOVA is a community of scholars, educators, and practice leaders that seeks to strengthen the field of nonprofit and philanthropic research in order to improve civil society and human life. Founded in 1971, ARNOVA brings together both theoretical and applied interests, helping scholars gain insight into the day-to-day concerns of third-sector organizations, while providing nonprofit professionals with connections to research they can use to improve the work of their organizations and the quality of life for citizens and communities.

ARNOVA has presented Alan Abramson with this prestigious award as a recognition of his contributions to the field. He is currently a Professor and Director of the Center on Nonprofits, Philanthropy, and Social Enterprise in the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University. Prior to joining Mason, Alan worked at the Aspen Institute and Urban Institute. He has served as President of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) and been named among the 50 most influential leaders in the U.S. nonprofit sector. He is also an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration.

Center leadership wins award from Voluntas, the official journal of ISTR.

Voluntas, the official journal of the International Society for Third-Sector Research, has awarded Best Paper to the center’s own Stefan Toepler and Alan Abramson. They won the award for their work entitled “Government/Foundation Relations: A Conceptual Framework and Evidence from the U.S. Federal Government’s Partnership Efforts” published in Voluntas. The article will be freely available through the end of September and the abstract can be found below.

Abstract: Interest in collaboration between government and private, grantmaking foundations has grown considerably in recent years both in the USA and abroad. In the USA, one outcome of the increased interest has been the emergence of liaison offices in federal agencies tasked with facilitating partnerships between government and grantmaking foundations and others, such as corporate philanthropic programs. As the government/foundation relationship is still under-conceptualized, we propose a framework that extends general government/nonprofit relationship typologies to grantmaking foundations and present empirical evidence on the foundation roles that government liaison officers prioritize in developing partnerships with their foundation counterparts. Empirically, the article is based on semi-structured interviews with these officers in U.S. federal cabinet departments and independent agencies. Having foundation funding substitute for government outlays factors heavily for government liaison staff. At the same time, the role of foundations in seeding government innovation plays a relatively modest role, despite the prominence of the foundation innovation role in the literature. Rather than having government scale foundation-identified innovations, government liaison officers emphasize foundations funding support services that provide access to or enhance government programs and foundations providing expertise to help co-design better government programs.