We explore the relation between organizational culture and governance in distributed nonprofit organizations. The transmission of culture across geographic distances facilitates governance in nonprofit distributed organizations, allowing distributed members to span the boundary of the organization to accomplish organizational objectives. We suggest that boundary-spanning is a key aspect of governance in distributed nonprofit organizations. While much of the governance literature focuses on the boundary-spanning activities of nonprofit boards, we describe boundary-spanning as an activity engaged in by distributed organizational members of nonprofit organizations. Distributed workers negotiate multiple relationships at the edge of their organization, what we call talking across boundaries. We present an in-depth case study that illustrates successful governance in a distributed nonprofit organization. We identify the elements of organizational culture that contribute to governance processes and facilitate the achievement of organizational objectives.

Following the literature that focuses on the psychosocial, cognitive and economic motivations for volunteerism, this article presents a phenomenological study of voluntary participation in a community-based waste management initiative involving a total of 24 participants. In line with phenomenology’s accent on uncovering cognitive meanings and essential structures, data were collected by means of 12 individually semi-structured interviews and two focus group discussions. Common cognitive meaning units were identified, guiding an understanding of the essence and structure underlying the volunteer experience, beyond the focus on motives, functions and intentions of volunteer work, yielding insight into the unintended effects of volunteer action on the volunteers themselves and on the community they serve. The data were critically reviewed as a means of understanding the hidden dimensions of volunteerism as they seem to relate to individual and social agency and social transformation and the inherent challenges that such change can effect. From our analysis it appears that it would be valuable to conduct further detailed and larger studies examining the agentic nature of volunteerism in low-to middle-income contexts.

While numerous accounts of policy frameworks associated with country-level support for social enterprise activity exist, explanations for when, why and how policy interventions in support of social enterprise have been adopted have been, to date, much more thin on the ground. This paper aims to contribute to addressing this perceived gap by presenting the case of Scotland, recently hailed by First Minister Alex Salmond as “the most supportive environment in the world for social enterprise”. Historical Institutionalism is used to explain how such a ‘supportive environment’ might have come about and, looking at, in turn, when, why and how the conditions for social enterprise in Scotland have developed, we attempt to contribute to the ongoing international debate concerning the importance of the policy environment to fostering the conditions for social enterprise activity not only to emerge, but also to thrive.

The present study aimed to explore underlying motivational factors of volunteerism at a special sporting event for persons with intellectual disabilities. The volunteer survey (n = 252) assessed sociodemographic characteristics, motives, satisfaction with life, psychological well-being, and affectivity of mainly intrinsically motivated volunteers versus traineeship attendees, doing a compulsory traineeship on occasion of the Innsbruck 2008 Winter Special Olympics. There was no significant variability in the motivation to volunteer scale (MVS) score between the groups. The inventory of approach and avoidance motivation (IAAM) data showed that primarily intrinsically motivated volunteers experienced higher self-gratification through their voluntary engagement. Regression analysis revealed that psychological well-being, satisfaction with life, and positive and negative affectivity was predicted by the IAAM and MVS. Individuals’ personal motives for volunteering appear to correlate with psychological well-being and affectivity and may influence prospective participation.

To add to the growing body of literature on university–community engagement, this case study describes a 2-year partnership between a University and 11 nonprofit organizations that was formed as part of a grant funded Nonprofit Capacity Building Program. The article describes and analyzes a significant challenge that emerged between the parties involved in this particular relationship, respectively, the clear disconnect between the expectations of the partnership versus the reality. We argue that these differences were created by and often led to power imbalances. In addition, the formal structures of the grant acted as a sensemaking device for some of the nonprofits but were challenged by others. Negotiation over aspects to the program occurred continuously throughout the program. Despite the disconnect observed between expectations and realities, the expected capacity building outcomes were, for the most part, realized in the end. Specific examples of the expectations versus realities are analyzed and discussed.

The ‘social investment market’ in the United Kingdom is a growth area due to the governments’ focus upon building up the supply-side element of the market over the last decade, often through the direct financing of ‘Social and Investment Finance Intermediaries’ (SIFIs). However, this ignores problems that can occur on the demand-side of the social investment market, such as a lack of ‘investment readiness’ amongst social enterprises seeking investment. Indeed, whilst there is now a significant body of policy-based and practitioner research exploring the social investment market, there remains a paucity of empirical academic research. The research reported in this paper sought to explore SIFI perceptions of what constituted investment readiness in the social investment market. Semi-structured interviews were held with the fund managers (or relevant personnel) at 15 SIFIs in order to explore what they believed constituted investment readiness and how they assessed this. The results indicate that the conception of investment readiness in the social investment market is similar to that held in mainstream financial markets. The results are discussed in relation to the prior literature and theories of the social investment market.

A vexing research question concerns reciprocal relationships between social responsibility and volunteerism, characterized by volunteer identity and low volunteering cost perceived among young volunteers. This study analyzes panel data collected from 527 university students engaged in a volunteering project at a university in Hong Kong, China. Controlling for background and selectivity factors, the study reveals that the volunteer’s social responsibility displayed a positive effect on volunteerism 6 months later, but volunteerism did not yield a positive effect on social responsibility 6 months later. These results imply the emphasis on social responsibility as a precursor to sustain volunteerism. They also imply the need for university to orchestrate volunteering projects that foster volunteers’ volunteerism and social responsibility.

The current study aims to study Hospital volunteers’ intention to stay in an organization through understanding motivation, management factors, and satisfaction. A total of 304 Hospital volunteers, mainly women, completed a questionnaire measuring motivations, management factors, satisfaction, and intention to stay. In this study, structural equation modeling was used. Results demonstrate that there is a positive relationship between (a) motivation and satisfaction, (b) management factors and satisfaction, (c) satisfaction and intention to stay, and (d) motivation and management factors. These results present important outcomes that should be reflected in the way organizations operate. This research indicates aspects which are most valued by volunteers and allows NPOs to design and establish appropriate and assertive management policies.

Participation of women in microfinance institutions (MFIs) is touted to advance development in developing economies. By applying the stakeholder theory, we examine the magnitude of women’s participation across MFIs based on their legal characteristics, that is, cooperatives and non-cooperatives across the following dimensions—organizational size, efficiency, loan size, and gender mix. We find that in the case of the cooperative types of MFIs, increases in average loan sizes are associated with decreases in female participation in the administration and governance. Further, the findings demonstrate that with increases in the participation of women borrowers, the number of women in organizational governance also increases. These findings suggest important research and practical implications regarding women’s empowerment through participation in mutual cooperative societies. We conclude that credit unions and cooperatives could be an effective tool for enhancing women’s participation in organizational administration and governance.

A typological approach to civic participation and nonparticipation may be useful to develop targeted recruitment or intervention strategies. We applied the behavior change framework, which distinguishes between preintenders, intenders, and actors, to civic participation. Using a sample of 695 individuals (aged 20–40) surveyed in 2010 in two of the new federal states of Germany, we conducted latent profile analysis on three continuous indicators of civic participation (factual participation, perceived behavioral control, and future intention). Five profiles emerged: the Staunch Abstainers, the Indifferent Abstainers, the Somewhat Committed, the Aspiring, and the Highly Committed. The profiles significantly differed in socioeconomic status (SES) but not in age, gender, employment, or family status. Moreover, a higher SES was not always associated with higher civic participation, and different SES indicators appeared to play different roles. We discuss ways to foster civic participation in each group.

In nonprofit organizations, hybrid activities that straddle both paid work and volunteering have been documented. However, conceptualization of these hybrid activities is missing. This article conceptualizes one kind hybrid activity—“staff volunteering” (SV) in which self-selected, paid nonprofit employees, motivated by volunteerism, willingly volunteer to perform work that is perceived to be unpaid by the employee. SV enriches our understanding of volunteerism and the nature of nonprofit work by conceptualizing the phenomenon of paid SV at work. SV informs nonprofit managers about the staff’s work motivation and both the benefits and dangers of relying on SV. The conceptualization also provokes us to rethink the role and status of NPOs within the framework of the New Public Management.

This research builds our understanding of emerging corporate and private Indian foundations through the lens of their founders—India’s new generation of high-net-worth business leaders. Based on over 45 interviews and drawing on existing literature, it explores the background of these individuals, their unique position as “hyperagents,” and the Indian context that shapes their foundations. Findings suggest that these philanthropists prefer operational foundation models, politically and socially “safe” sectors, carry over business tendencies, pursue social change through a driver or catalyst role, and hold preference for control at the cost of coordination between actors. These approaches are logical given the context but are not the ideal end-goal, rather a step toward advancing HNWI philanthropy in the country. This work will be of interest to those looking to engage with Indian philanthropists and foundations, and given the limited existing scholarship on Indian philanthropy, it contributes to the development of India-specific theories.