The Resilient Sector

by Lester M. Salamon (contributor)

Nonprofit America is one of the least understood segments of national life, yet also one of the most crucial.Author Lester Salamon, who pioneered the empirical study of the nonprofit sector in the United States, provides a wealth of new data to paint a compelling picture of a set of institutions being buffeted by a withering set of challenges, yet still finding ways to survive and prosper. These challenges, however, are posing enormous risks to the historic character and role of nonprofits.Operating in an increasingly competitive environment in which traditional sources of government and philanthropic support are difficult to maintain, nonprofits have turned decisively to the market. In the process, however, they may be losing their raison d'�tre, sacrificing their most crucial missions, and risking loss of public understanding and support.To remedy this situation, Salamon recommends a renewal strategy for the nation's nonprofit sector that begins with a wider articulation and application of the sector's value proposition--the attributes that continue to make it deserving of the special privileges and benefits it enjoys. Salamon's pithy and accessible book is perfect for nonprofit boards, leaders of charitable foundations, government officials, and students of the nonprofit sector and of public policy, as well as anyone looking for guidance on how we go about dealing with public problems in America's increasingly collaborative system of governance.

Genres: School

120 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 30, 2012

Reviews

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unless you are closely involved with the non-profit sector you may not actually realise just how widespread and involved in everyday life they can be. This book provides a fascinating look inside America’s non-profit organisations, yet you need not be American to enjoy this book and foreign non-profits may also learn a fair bit too.

It is a bit of a dry, technical read at times that may be more suited towards the professional or academic reader, yet there is quite a lot that could satisfy the curious, generalist too. In this book, the author contends that non-profits are being battered and buffeted by many challenges, yet overall they survive and prosper. Can there be a bit of a catch-22 moment or a vicious circle developing for many of the non-profits, since their traditional sources of support can face pressures. They reach out to the “commercial markets” for help and then risk losing their whole reason for being; which leads to a reduction in public understanding and support that in turn can see reduced support coming from that quarter.

The author proposes a so-called renewal strategy that seeks to overhaul the non-profit sector, to polish it a little and showcase its value and underline how essential it may be for continued support and public confidence.

How many people really know that a lot of America’s top hospitals, higher education institutions and day-care centres are private non-profits? You probably get a bill from them and it is no charity as you pay commercial rates for that service. Yet non-profits are permitted to make a profit; it is just the distribution to shareholders and directors that is frowned upon. More people will realise, perhaps with a little thought, that symphony orchestras, civil rights organisations and lobbying groups such as environmental organisations are non-profits (or charities). It is clearly big business, lucrative business for many.

Reading through this book was quite an eye-opener. Even if you are not specifically involved with non-profits, a lot of the advice offered up could equally be applied to commercial organisations or local interest associations; it is, after all, a way of thinking and presentation. This book was one of those nice unexpected finds; if it was not due to review purposes, perhaps this book would never have fell into the reviewer’s reading pile, yet it proved to be an interesting, worthwhile read on a topic we all have contact with. For those who are professionally involved with non-profits, it could be considered essential reading.

Autamme.com

[David Rubenstein · Rating 2 out of 5]

This crappy little book was terribly hard to read. Most annoying was its interminable us of "thus," "therefore," "moreover," etc. Challengingly, the heart of the book was sentences full of numerical comparisons of growth of various sectors of the economy, comparing growth over time, increase and decreases in growth, and numerical comparisons of large and small institutions. If god wanted these impossible-to-absorb sentences, he wouldn't have invented charts and graphs. Terrible. But the fundamental challenge of this book is this logical formulation: good people form nonprofits to do good work, and many nonprofits do good work; nonprofits are in the nonprofit sector; many organizations in the nonprofit sector (a sector that includes some good organization) are under stress from competition and other societal forces; therefore, we should strengthen the nonprofit sector. You fool!!! We should strengthen the elements of the nonprofit sector that provide value, not simply any organization that happens to be in the same grand sector! Crappy book.

[Karina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very disappointed by this book. Besides the clear and rampant political bias irritating to find in an academic writing, it was filled with contradictions, a mixed bag of supporting evidence, and a frustrating propensity to explain its points in the context of healthcare non-profits and then assume a parallel accuracy across a variety of NFP sectors (eg even though arts organizations are completely different). Annoying read with wandering structure and a weak conclusion.

*edit: check out the bibliography and you’ll find his referenced evidence is often written or edited by himself.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

~ 3.5 ~