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Pursuing Impact: Mission-Driven Strategic Planning for Nonprofits

Dr. Alicia M. Schatteman, Northern Illinois University
Alicia M. Schatteman, PhD

Alicia M. Schatteman, PhD
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs
Associate Professor
Department of Public Administration
School of Public and Global Affairs
Northern Illinois University

Pursuing Impact: Mission-Driven Strategic Planning for Nonprofits

Johns Hopkins University Press, 2024

In Pursuing Impact, published by Johns Hopkins University Press (2024), scholar and former nonprofit executive director Alicia Schatteman shares her unique experience and expertise to help organizations navigate the complexities of strategic planning effectively. Going beyond the typical step-by-step manuals, Schatteman addresses the nuances that nonprofit leaders face during the planning and implementation stages and emphasizes the cyclical nature of planning while acknowledging the need for flexibility and adaptability.

Tailored to small and medium-sized nonprofits, this guide recognizes the challenges they may encounter with limited capacity and resources. Schatteman’s comprehensive six-stage strategic planning cycle offers practical insights and strategies to guide nonprofit leaders from readiness to implementation. Drawing on her academic background and real-world experience, Schatteman presents a blend of research and practical application to take nonprofit leaders through the process of identifying stakeholders, gathering data, involving the board, putting a plan together, and allocating resources. Through relatable stories and lessons learned from various nonprofits, she demystifies the process and empowers leaders to create strategic plans with impact.

Pursuing Impact helps nonprofit leaders transform their organization’s future by providing the tools, insights, and resources to drive meaningful change, align mission and vision, and achieve their goals.

Alicia Schatteman is the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and an associate professor in the Department of Public Administration. She received her PhD in public administration from Rutgers University-Newark and a master’s degree in communications management from Syracuse University. She also consults and conducts research in nonprofit strategic planning and performance measurement. Prior to returning to school for her PhD, she worked for ten years in the public and nonprofit sectors as a communications specialist and then an executive director.

Her areas of expertise include nonprofit management, public administration, performance management, public communications, and citizen participation and electronic government.

By |2024-04-16T08:54:56-04:00April 15th, 2024|NACC Member Research|
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Sustainability Leadership: Theories, Paradigms, and Practices for Emerging Value-Leaders

Dr. Marco Tavanti, University of San Francisco
Dr. Marco Tavanti, University of San Francisco

Dr. Marco Tavanti
Professor of Leadership
MNA Program Director
School of Management
University of San Francisco

Sustainability Leadership: Theories, Paradigms, and Practices for Emerging Value-Leaders

Planet Healing Press, 2024

Sustainability Leadership presents an essential blueprint for businesses aligning economic success with environmental and social responsibility. This insightful book bridges theoretical concepts with practical applications, emphasizing the need for a holistic approach to global social responsibility, eco-environmental circularity, and prosperity and well-being. It delves into the heart of sustainable leadership, advocating for a balance of ethical practices, environmental consciousness, and social justice. Real-world examples illustrate the urgency for leaders to adopt a systemic thinking mindset, driving transformative change toward a sustainable, equitable future. This book is a call to action for leaders who forge a path where profit, people, and the planet coexist harmoniously.

Dr. Marco Tavanti is a sustainability and leadership international scholar whose experience stretches over 30 years and whose work has taken him to more than 18 countries in Europe, East Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Dr. Tavanti’s teaching in sustainable development, leadership ethics, intercultural diversity, and NGO management is grounded in Jesuit values and his scholarship is an embodiment of the University’s mission to be of service to humankind.

Dr. Tavanti is a systems thinker whose scholarship aims at providing practical and integrated solutions to issues in international development and poverty reduction. His research methods are participatory in nature and directed at building international capacity in leaders, organizations, and institutions. Through his teaching he inspires globally engaged leaders while building professional capacity through international managerial skills across sectors.

He is President of the Sustainable Capacity International Institute (SCII-ONLUS) and CEO of its subsidiary SDG.services. He is co-founder of the World Engagement Institute (WEI), an international organization providing capacity development services for sustainable human security. He designed and directed various professional training programs on sustainable community development, indigenous human rights, anti-human trafficking and refugee service management. He has been consulting and collaborating with United Nations agencies such as the Development Programme (UNDP), the Global Compact (UNGC), the Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Through his engagement with the UN Global Compact he contributed to the development of the Principles of Responsible Management Education (PRME) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

By |2024-04-15T09:28:11-04:00April 15th, 2024|NACC Member Research|
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Gender Identity, Inter-Team Competition, and Leader Self-Efficacy Developmental Trajectories in a Multi-Institutional Leader Development Program

Ronald Mickler, Jr., John Carroll University

Ronald Mickler, Jr., Ed.D.
Assistant Dean-Accreditation & Strategic Initiatives
Boler College of Business
John Carroll University

Gender Identity, Inter-Team Competition, and Leader Self-Efficacy Developmental Trajectories in a Multi-Institutional Leader Development Program

David Michael Rosch, Lisa Kuron, Robert Reimer, Ronald Mickler, Daniel Jenkins

Journal of Leadership Education, April 2024

This study examines the evolution of leader self-efficacy among collegiate participants engaged in the multi-institutional Collegiate Leadership Competition, a unique pedagogical framework that incorporates inter-team challenges. Over three years, data was collected to explore whether gender identity influences the developmental trajectories of leader self-efficacy. The findings reveal that women participants consistently began their competition experience with higher levels of self-efficacy compared to their male counterparts. Throughout the competition and several months following its conclusion, both groups exhibited sustained moderate growth in self-efficacy, yet the initial disparity between genders remained unchanged. This persistence of the gender gap underscores the complex dynamics of leader development in competitive academic environments and offers crucial insights for leadership educators aiming to refine program effectiveness and inclusivity.

The research contributes significantly to the nascent body of literature on leadership education efficacy, particularly within settings that simulate real-world competitive dynamics. By maintaining a focus on inter-team competition, the study not only aligns with contemporary educational best practices—including experiential learning and student-centered pedagogies—but also provides a detailed assessment of how such approaches can be optimized to support diverse leader identity development. The results suggest that while competitive formats like those used in the Collegiate Leadership Competition foster leader self-efficacy across genders, they do not necessarily mitigate pre-existing efficacy disparities. These insights are invaluable for leadership educators who are tasked with designing programs that not only enhance leadership skills but also address gender-based perceptions in leader efficacy.

By |2024-04-15T11:51:27-04:00April 15th, 2024|NACC Member Research|
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Greetings from the Executive Director: March 2024

Nicole Collier, NACC Executive Director

Nicole Collier, MPSA
Executive Director, NACC
Center for Nonprofits and Philanthropy
Bush School of Government and Public Service
Texas A&M University

Well, I have discovered a new form of anxiety…having to follow Angela Logan’s newsletter articles.

I hope you are all having an excellent spring! It’s hard to believe spring classes are almost done here in College Station. My brain still thinks it’s recovering from winter break!

I have been pretty busy the past few months. The Center for Nonprofits & Philanthropy at Texas A&M, where I dedicate the rest of my work time, hosted its first Nonprofit BRIDGE Conference. The conference was dedicated to fostering partnerships between nonprofit organizations and higher education institutions. I saw many familiar faces there, including several NACC members based in Texas. It was a great event and I’m looking forward to future conferences.

Now that I am done with that conference and can take a deep breath, it’s time to return to several NACC projects and initiatives. It’s time to send the updated curricular guidelines to an editor and printer. We need to continue welcoming applicants of Nu Lambda Mu through the rest of the application cycle. Finally, it’s time to start planning our summer 2025 conference! It’s going to be a busy year, but I can’t wait to dig back in.

I’ll keep it short and sweet this month. I look forward to sharing more. Until then, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

All the best,
Nicole

By |2024-03-25T09:04:37-04:00March 25th, 2024|Executive Director's Report|
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Fighting for Survival: Analyzing Strategic Trends in Arts Advocacy

Researchers from the University of Texas at Arlington
Trevor Meagher

Trevor Meagher, MPA
PhD Student
College of Architecture, Planning, and Public Affairs
University of Texas at Arlington

Dr. Karabi C. Bezboruah

Karabi C. Bezboruah, PhD
Professor, Public Affairs and Planning
The University of Texas at Arlington

Jiwon Suh, PhD

Jiwon Suh, PhD
Assistant Professor, Public Affairs and Planning
University of Texas at Arlington

Fighting for Survival: Analyzing Strategic Trends in Arts Advocacy

Trevor Meagher, Karabi Bezboruah, Jiwon Suh

Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing, Volume 29, Issue 1, February 2024

American arts organizations are locked in a continuous fight for their survival as a result of their demanding operational contexts. Virtually every arts organization engages in some form of formal or informal advocacy in order to raise public awareness and secure financial support or political goodwill. While there are almost as many different advocacy strategies as there are arts organizations, studies that trace changes in strategic employment over time are rare, as advocates are typically focused on present issues and the immediate future. This research seeks to address this knowledge gap. Through a systematic review of over 260 scholarly sources, editorials, blogs, think pieces, and miscellaneous other pro-arts arguments, this article identifies five main arguments for supporting the arts that have been commonly used by arts advocates since the inception of the National Endowment for the Arts. This article presents a theoretical typology that is useful for understanding these arguments and the thematic connections between them. It concludes with a discussion of general trends towards strategic isomorphism and research sophistication among these strategies, then offers avenues for future research that may assist arts advocates with evaluating strategies’ success so as to improve their future effectiveness.

Trevor Meagher, MPA, is a PhD student in the College of Architecture, Planning, and Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Arlington. His research interests explore the role of arts organizations in modern society, the nonprofit sector, the cultural economy, creative placemaking, urban identity, cross-sector collaboration, universities, and organizational strategies for achieving local institutionalization. Trevor regularly presents his research at the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action annual conference, and his work is published in the Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing. He holds an undergraduate degree in Music Performance with minors in Arts Management and Arts Administration, as well as a Master of Public Administration with a focus in Urban Nonprofit Management.

Karabi Bezboruah, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Public Affairs and Planning at the College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs (CAPPA) at the University of Texas at Arlington.Dr. Bezboruah also serves as the director of the two doctoral programs in CAPPA. These are the Public Administration & Public Policy (PAPP), and Urban Planning and Public Policy (UPPP).

Dr. Bezboruah teaches administration and policy courses in the Department of Public Affairs. She teaches the core courses in the Nonprofit Management specialization track and facilitates the graduate Certificate in Urban Nonprofit Management. She applies service-learning pedagogy in her courses, and has worked with community organizations, nonprofits, and local government agencies.

Dr. Bezboruah’s research includes cross sector collaboration, nonprofit management and leadership, strategic management, community development, cross-sector comparisons, NGOs – organizational role, gender role, leadership role & NGO effectiveness. Her work is in the intersection between public policies and organizational behavior, and she frequently collaborates with other disciplines to conduct research on policy issues surrounding health, housing and the environment.

Jiwon Suh, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Public Affairs and Planning at the University of Texas at Arlington. Her research focuses on organizational behavior, performance and accountability, and communication and marketing in the public and nonprofit sectors. She has published articles in several journals including Public Administration Review, Review of Public Personnel Administration, Nonprofit Management & Leadership, Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, and Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing.

By |2024-03-20T14:50:57-04:00March 20th, 2024|NACC Member Research|
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In Search of the Magic Bullet: Results from the Building Audiences for Sustainability Initiative

Francie Ostrower, The University of Texas at Austin
Francie Ostrower

Dr. Francie Ostrower
Professor of Public Affairs and Fine Arts
Director of the Portfolio Program in Arts and
Cultural Management and Entrepreneurship
Senior Fellow

In Search of the Magic Bullet: Results from the Building Audiences for Sustainability Initiative

Francie Ostrower, LBJ School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin

A new report by LBJ School Professor Francie Ostrower sheds light on the artistic and fiscal challenges that 25 performing arts organizations encountered while seeking to build new audiences, yielding insights into approaches that worked, and those that didn’t. Overall, the findings suggest that while expanding audiences is possible, it may not always happen on an organization’s desired terms. Therefore, if organizations want to change how audiences engage with them, they must be open to changing themselves. This research was funded by the Wallace Foundation.

Francie Ostrower is a professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs and College of Fine Arts, Director of the Portfolio Program in Arts and Cultural Management and Entrepreneurship jointly sponsored by the College of Fine Arts and the LBJ School, and a senior fellow in the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service. She is principal investigator of the Building Audiences for Sustainability Initiative: Research and Evaluation, a six-year study of audience-building activities by performing arts organizations commissioned and funded by The Wallace Foundation through a multi-million dollar grant. Prior to joining The University of Texas at Austin in 2008, she was a senior research associate at the Urban Institute and prior to that a sociology faculty member at Harvard University. Dr. Ostrower has been a visiting professor at IAE de Paris/Sorbonne Graduate Business School and is an Urban Institute affiliated scholar. She has authored numerous publications on philanthropy, nonprofit governance, and arts and cultural participation that have received awards from the Association for Research on Nonprofit and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) and Independent Sector. Her research has been supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Aspen Institute, among others. Recent professional activities include serving as a board member and president of ARNOVA and on the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly board, and the academic advisory committee of Stanford Social Innovation Review.

By |2024-03-20T15:06:05-04:00March 19th, 2024|NACC Member Research|
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A Message from Your Board President: February 2024

Angela R. Logan, NACC President
Angela R. Logan, PhD

Angela R. Logan, PhD
St. Andre Bessette Academic Director,
Master of Nonprofit Administration
Associate Teaching Professor,
Mendoza College of Business
University of Notre Dame

What’s Love Got To Do With (Our Sector)?

Hello! This month, inspired both by Valentine’s Day and the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, the late, great Tina Turner, I’ve been thinking a lot about the age-old question: What’s love got to do with it, specifically, our sector? When I think about this question, I reflect on both my formal and informal connections to philanthropy and the nonprofit sector. While my formal journey into the study of philanthropy began 20 years ago in Dr. Dwight Burlingame’s course, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector (or, as we called it, “521’), my informal journey began decades earlier… in my childhood home. There, my parents instilled in me their own version of the Muhammad Ali quote, “Service to others is the rent you pay for the room here on earth.” Except, in my parents’ case, the quote was more like, “Service is the rent you pay for your room in this house.” In DB’s class, I learned about the Promethean Myth and Alexis de Tocqueville. On Elizabeth Drive, I learned about The Good Samaritan and my parents’ roles in the US Civil Rights Movement. Dwight gave me one of the staples of our field, Giving USA. Richard and Terry gave me staples of my culture, Jet Magazine and Ebony Kids.

Although they may have shown up in different forms, in both of those spaces, I constantly interrogated the true meaning of “φιλανθρωπία:” “love of humanity.” Whether it was giving my old toys and clothes to families in need, participating in Girl Scouts, or receiving a scholarship to attend my UG alma mater, my life was marked both by the impact of my own service and by the generosity of others. When I sat in 521, I began to piece together how acts of generosity were connected across time. What inspired my Girl Scout troop leader to work with me, 25 years after her husband led my father’s troop? What role did Black churches play in supporting the formerly enslaved, like my maternal great-grandmother, and how did that support change over time, to help my mother go to college? How did the work of Black Greek Letter Organizations, the majority of which were founded in the early 1900s, influence political activism as recently as the US Presidential election of 2020?

Similar to my own experiences, our students come to our classrooms with a lifetime of firsthand knowledge and experience of “φιλανθρωπία:” their faith communities, early childhood center, club participation, scholarships to pursue their education, and “walkaround money” from loved ones have all prepared them to ask questions of us…and our sector. Our responsibility is to provide them the tools and skills necessary to embed their own experiences into the wider context of our sector, all while helping them to remember that, at the root of our work is love.

So, the next time you’re feeling overwhelmed with administrivia and grading, remember why we do it: for the love of our students…and humanity. Because what’s love got to do with our sector? EVERYTHING!

All the best,

Angela R. Logan
Board President, NACC

By |2024-02-27T11:41:35-05:00February 27th, 2024|President's Message|
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Request For Proposals: NACC 2025 Member Meeting and Biennial Conference Host Institution

Three Day Conference in 2025

Purpose of RFP: The Nonprofit Academic Centers Council (NACC) seeks proposals from among its member institutions to serve as Host for the 1-day member/ board meeting and 2-day biennial conference, to be held in July 2025. Other dates can be considered. The meeting and conference would take place over three days, with the following suggested format: The first day is the member meeting or board retreat and (smaller, more informal) member reception, and the subsequent two days are the conference, with a (larger) reception on the evening of the first day. The dates are flexible, but traditionally, NACC’s Biennial Conference dates are 3 days attached to the weekends in the second week of July 2025, i.e., Monday-Wednesday 7-9 July 2025 or Wednesday-Friday 9-11 July 2025.

Purpose of Biennial Conference: The 2025 conference will be the 15th anniversary of NACC’s conferences, which are traditionally held biennially. Past academic hosts have provided substantial resources in the form of conference venues and catering, funding, and organizational effort. We salute these past host universities: Arizona State University, University of San Diego, DePaul University, Texas A&M University, Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, the Bayes School of Business, part of City, University of London, and Auburn University. Conferences do not need to be hosted by one university/program.

The Biennial Conference attracts sponsorships from NACC university members, local host institution philanthropy, and other sources; all of which sustain the operations of the organization. Consequently, the Biennial conference provides a signal to the global academic peer communities of the vitality of NACC and its programs.

Theme for the 2025 Biennial Conference: We encourage interested host institutions to suggest themes for the conference. NACC will assist with having a host/conference committee help develop the theme as needed.

Selected papers may be published in a special issue of our key partner Sagamore Publisher’s Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership.

Eligibility: Respondents to the RFP must be NACC members at the time of the submission materials. Institutions that are in the process of applying for NACC membership may be part of joint applications with current members.

Required Conditions: A dedicated coordinating staff member must be assigned to connect with NACC to plan, arrange, and facilitate conference logistics on site. The host institution(s) may recommend suggested hotels, but accommodations are arranged by the conference participants themselves. Reception space must be provided by the host institution for up to 125 attendees. On-site dining or catering services must also be available. Meeting space must be sufficient for two (non-concurrent) plenary sessions with seating for approximately 80 – 100 attendees, plus five break-out presentation spaces for concurrent topical panels. Presentation hardware, adaptable software programs such as Microsoft PowerPoint, and internet access must be provided, including technical support.

Preferred Conditions: The ideal host institution will be accessible readily by air transport and near a population center of sufficient size to accommodate the group. In addition to in- kind physical services, host institutions are asked to provide sponsorship (for example; covering the costs meals, breaks, or receptions), or to facilitate fundraising from external sources. NACC will also solicit sponsorships from other NACC members, as it has in the past to cover other necessary costs.

Cover Letter and Budget: In a signed cover letter, describe the facilities that will be provided by your institution. Complete a budget indicating the amount of direct and indirect contributions your institution will invest in the Biennial Conference.

Letter of Support from Institutional Executive Officer: Provide a letter confirming support for this proposal signed by the chief executive officer (i.e. president, provost, dean or department head).

Additional information: You are welcome to submit any additional information you think will be useful in helping us in our deliberations.

Due Date: Complete responses to this RFP in PDF format are due no later than Monday, April 5, 2024. The PDF document should include the signed cover letter, budget, and institutional letter of support (plus any additional materials). Email to Nicole Collier, NACC Executive Director: nicole.e.collier@tamu.edu.

By |2024-02-22T16:58:11-05:00February 22nd, 2024|NACC Announcement|
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Now Accepting Applications for the Nu Lambda Mu International Honor Society

The Honor Society is an exclusive opportunity for students of NACC member programs dedicated to nonprofit and philanthropic education. This includes graduate and undergraduate students completing PhDs, master’s degrees, tracks, concentrations, certificates, majors, and minors!

Benefits of joining the Nu Lambda Mu International Honor Society include:

  • Recognition on the NACC website and in our e-newsletter, NACC News
  • Opportunity to share your stories and updates with us in the “Nu Lambda Mu Spotlight” section of NACC News
  • Invitations to attend NACC conferences and special events
  • Updates on Job Opportunities in the nonprofit sector
  • Invitation to join our Nu Lambda Mu members-only LinkedIn group

The deadline to apply is April 19, 2024. Alums and students graduating this fall are eligible to apply. You can learn more about the criteria by clicking below. Feel free to download our promotional flyer to share with interested students.

For any questions, please refer to our FAQ Guide, or contact us at nacc@tamu.edu.

By |2024-02-22T15:08:59-05:00February 22nd, 2024|NACC Announcement|
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Bridging the Online and Classroom Divide in Public Administration Education

Reynold Galope, Metropolitan State University
Reynold Galope, Metropolitan State University

Reynold Galope
Associate Professor
MPNA/MPA/MNLM Graduate Program Director
Public and Nonprofit Leadership
Metropolitan State University

Exploiting a Natural Experiment in Assessing Student Learning Outcomes in Public and Nonprofit Administration: A Demonstration
Reynold Galope, Robert Bilyk, and Daniel Woldeab

Teaching Public Administration (December 2023)

The effectiveness of online learning versus traditional classroom instruction has long been a subject of debate in public and nonprofit administration education. This study by Reynold Galope, Robert Bilyk, and Daniel Woldeab, published in Teaching Public Administration, presents a significant methodological contribution to this discourse by exploiting a natural experiment. The research reexamines the online versus classroom debate through a new lens, employing a novel dataset and estimation approach to assess student learning outcomes in both settings. The core question it seeks to answer is whether the format of course delivery fundamentally affects student learning.

Departing from traditional experimental designs and common analytical techniques like regression analysis, this study uniquely leverages a naturally occurring classroom phenomenon. This approach ensures statistical equivalence in student characteristics across online and face-to-face course formats, satisfying the exogeneity assumption critical in causal studies. By doing so, the research provides a more accurate assessment of the impact of course delivery format on learning outcomes.

The article originated as a conference paper at the 2019 NACC Biennial Conference in London, United Kingdom. Its roots in academic discourse and practitioner insights adds a layer of collaborative depth and real-world applicability to the findings. Moreover, the recommendations developed for both online and classroom instructors in public administration and nonprofit management stem from the collaborative efforts of three researchers with expertise in diverse fields, including research methodology, instructional design (with a particular focus on technology in teaching and learning), program/curriculum coordination, and adult education. This interdisciplinary approach enriches the article’s conclusions, providing a comprehensive perspective on optimizing educational strategies in the field.

The study goes beyond theoretical exploration, offering practical contributions to the field. It leverages contemporary research in online pedagogy and learning theory to discuss its findings and their implications for online education in public administration. Notably, it introduces a feedback-centered teaching philosophy aimed at bridging the gap between the learning outcomes of completely asynchronous online classes and traditional face-to-face courses. This nuanced approach promises significant insights for program coordinators, instructors, and policy analysts concerned with optimizing educational delivery in public administration.

By |2024-02-22T11:51:35-05:00February 22nd, 2024|NACC Member Research|
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