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Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations
Vol. 15, No. 2, June 2004 ( C 2004)Challenges in Managing Nonprofit Organizations:
A Research OverviewBernd Helmig,1 Marc Jegers,2 and Irvine Lapsley3,4The topic of management and nonprofit organizations (NPOs) continues to fascinate scholars. This paper draws on varying theoretical perspectives to explore
their respective contributions to our knowledge of NPOs. The two longstanding
and contrasting disciplines of economics and sociology have contributed most,
traditionally, to the study of NPOs. However, neither of these disciplines has resolved all the dilemmas associated with NPOs. The standard economic model does
not apply well to the distinctive nonmarket situation of NPOs. The sociological
perspectives offer interesting insight, but fail to develop plans of action for NPOs.
However, both of these traditional perspectives are starting to be eclipsed by the
focus on marketing research.KEY WORDS: NPO research; economics; sociology; marketing.INTRODUCTIONNonprofit organizations (NPOs) continue to be a major focus of research
for scholars from a variety of disciplines. This interdisciplinary aspect of NPO
research is a reflection of the distinctive nature of NPOs, the complexity of their operations and their relationships withy their environment, the difficulties of defining
the boundaries of NPO activity and determining, categorically, what is and what is
not an NPO. These different dimensions of NPO activity have also defied analysis
by standard approaches to investigation as applied to for-profit organizations.1Department of Business Administration, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.2Department of Microeconomics of the Profit and Non-Profit Sectors, Vrije Universiteit Brussel,
Brussel, Belgium.3IPSAR, University of Edinburgh Management School, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom.4Correspondence should be directed to Bernd Helmig, University of Fribourg, Chair of Nonprofit
Management & Marketing, Avenue de Beauregard 11, CH-1700 Fribourg, Switzerland; e-mail:
[email protected]/04/0600-0101/1 C 2004 International Society for Third-Sector Research and The Johns Hopkins University102 Helmig, Jegers, and LapsleyThis paper seeks to take stock of the state of the art of research into NPOs
in two ways. In the first instance we explore how the traditional contrasting
disciplines of economics and sociology have contributed to our understanding
of NPOs. We then focus on the dominant challenge facing NPOsthe need
to move from amateur administration to professional management. This challenge of management of NPOs is of particular significance in areas of fundraising by NPOs, therefore we focus on marketing...