This article identifies two models of nonprofit organization roles: the economic model, which emphasizes business-like methods, and the voluntary spirit model, which emphasizes participation and membership. Highly visible, professional nonprofit organizations must constantly struggle with the extent to which they are to emphasize their role as efficient and competitive economic actors or their role as institutions important to our democracy. After years of shifting toward the economic model, professional nonprofits may be ripe for reform. Simultaneously, they are confronting and engaging with the Internet. This article draws on examples of health-based citizen cyber-organizations to derive lessons for how professional nonprofit organizations can recapture their voluntary spirit generally and places an emphasis on participation and membership. Also derived are specific lessons on how professional nonprofits can use cyber-strategies to do so.
Anheir, H. K. (1990). Themes in international research on the nonprofit sector. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 19(4), 371-391.
2.
Bellah, R. N. (1985). Habits of the heart. New York: HarperCollins.
3.
Boris, E. T. (1999). Nonprofit organizations in a democracy: Varied roles and responsibilities. In E. T. Boris & C. E. Steuerle (Eds.), Nonprofits & government: Collaboration and conflict (pp. 139-162). Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.
4.
Brainard, L. A.,& Siplon, P. D. (2002). Cyberspace challenges to mainstream nonprofit health organizations. Administration & Society, 34(2), 141-175.
5.
Brinkerhoff, D. W., & Brinkerhoff, J. M. (Eds.). (2002). Government-nonprofit relations in comparative perspective [Special issue]. Public Administration and Development, 22(1).
6.
Bush, R. (1992). Survival of the nonprofit spirit in a for-profit world. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 21, 391-410.
7.
Clark, P. B., & Wilson, J. Q. (1961). Incentive systems: Atheory of organization. Administrative Science Quarterly, 6, 129-166.
8.
Connors, T. D. (Ed.). (1980). The nonprofit organization handbook. New York: McGraw-Hill.
9.
Davidow, W., & Malone, M. (1992). The virtual corporation: Structuring and revitalizing the corporation for the 21st century. New York: HarperCollins.
10.
Drucker, P. F. (1990). Lessons for successful nonprofit governance. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 1(1), 7-14.
11.
Epstein, S. (1996). Impure science. Berkeley: University of California Press.
12.
Espy, S. N. (1986). Handbook of strategic planning for nonprofit organizations. New York: Praeger.
13.
Etzioni, A. (1993). The spirit of community: Rights, responsibilities and the communitarian agenda. New York: Crown.
14.
Frumkin, P. (2002). On being nonprofit: A conceptual and policy primer. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
15.
Gies, D. L., Ott, J. S., & Shafritz, J. M. (1990). The nonprofit organization: Essential readings. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
16.
Grayson, E. L., & Tompkins, C. (Eds.). (1984). Management of public sector and nonprofit organizations. Reston, VA: Reston.
17.
Hall, P. D. (1992). Inventing the nonprofit sector and other essays on philanthropy, voluntarism, and non-profit organizations. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
18.
Hansmann, H. (1987). Economic theories of nonprofit organization. In W. W. Powell (Ed.), The nonprofit sector: A research handbook (pp. 27-42). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
19.
Hardy, J .M. (1972). Corporate planning for nonprofit organizations. New York: Association Press.
20.
Herman, R. D., & Heimovics, R. D. (1991). Executive leadership in non-profit organizations: New strategies for shaping executive-board dynamics. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
21.
INDEPENDENT SECTOR. (2002). Obedience to the unenforceable: Ethics and the nation’s voluntary and philanthropic community. Washington, DC: Author.
22.
King, D. C., & Walker. J. L. (1992). The provision of benefits by interest groups in the United States. Journal of Politics, 54, 394-426.
23.
Klausen, K. K. (1995). On the malfunction of the generic approach in small voluntary associations. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 5(3), 275-290.
24.
Knoke, D. (1988). Incentives in collective action organizations. American Sociological Review, 53, 311-329.
25.
Knoke, D., & Prensky, D. (1984). What relevance do organization theories have for voluntary organizations?Social Science Quarterly, 65(1), 3-20.
26.
Kollock, P., & Smith, M. (1999). Communities in cyberspace. New York: Routledge.
27.
Korten, D. C. (1990). Getting to the 21st century: Voluntary action and the global agenda. West Hartford, CT: Kumarian.
28.
Kotler, P., & Andreasen, A. R. (1987). Strategic marketing for nonprofit organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
29.
Leat, D. (1993). Managing across sectors: Similarities and differences between for-profit and voluntary non-profit organizations. London: City University Business School.
30.
Lichterman, P. (1996). The search for political community: American activists reinventing commitment. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
31.
Light, P. (2002). Trust in charitable organizations. Reform watch #6. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
32.
McLaughlin, C. P. (1986). The management of nonprofit organizations. New York: Wiley.
33.
McLaughlin, M. L., Osborne, K. K., & Ellison, N. B. (1997). Virtual community in a telepresence environment. In G. G. Jones (Ed.), Virtual culture: Identity and communication in cybersociety (pp. 146-168). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
34.
Mowshowitz, A. (1986). Social dimensions of office automation. Advances in Computers, 25, 335-404.
35.
Mowshowitz, A. (1994). Virtual organization: A vision of management in the information age. Information Society, 10(4), 267-288.
36.
O’Connell, B. (1987). State of the sector, with particular attention to its independence. Washington, DC: INDEPENDENT SECTOR.
37.
Powell, W., & Clemens, S. (Eds.).(1998). Private action and the public good. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
38.
Resnick, S. (1999). Blood saga: Hemophilia, AIDS and the survival of a community. Berkeley: University of California Press.
39.
Rheingold, H. (1993). Virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
40.
Russell, M. (1998). Beyond ramps: Disability at the end of the social contract. Monroe, ME: Common Courage.
41.
Salamon, L., & Anheir, H. (1997). Defining the nonprofit sector: Across-national analysis. Johns Hopkins nonprofit sector series no. 4. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
42.
Salmon, J. L. (2002, September 9). Nonprofits show losses in the public’s trust. The Washington Post, p. A2-A2.
43.
Salmon, J. L. (2003, January 31). United Way’s donations plummet: Charity will cut 40% of workforce. The Washington Post, p. A1-A1.
44.
Salmon, J. L., & Cho, D. (2002, November 2). Big namesflee after charity’s troubles. The Washington Post, p. B1-B1.
45.
Setterberg, F., & Schulman, K. (1985). Beyond profit: The complete guide to managing the nonprofit organization. New York: HarperCollins.
46.
Siplon, P. (2002). AIDS and the policy struggle in the United States. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
47.
Slater, P. (1970). The pursuit of loneliness. Boston: Beacon Press.
48.
Smith, D. H. (1992). A neglected type of voluntary nonprofit organization: Exploration of the semi-formal, fluid membership organization. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 21, 252-270.
49.
Smith, D. H. (2000). Grassroots associations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
50.
Smith, D. H., Seguin, M., & Collins, M. (1973). Dimensions and categories of voluntary organizations/NGOs. Journal of Voluntary Action Research, 2, 116-120.
51.
Spencer, T. (2002). The potential of the Internet for nonprofit organizations. First Monday, 7(8). Retrieved September 10, 2002 from www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue7_8/spencer
52.
Stanley, J. W., Weare, C., & Musso, J. (2002, September). Participation, deliberative democracy, and the Internet: Lessons from a national forum on commercial vehicle safety. Paper presented at the Prospects for Electronic Democracy Conference, Pittsburgh, PA.
53.
Starr, P. (1982). The social transformation of American medicine. New York: Basic Books.
54.
Tocqueville, A. (2000). Democracy in America (J. P. Mayer, Ed.; G. C. Lawrence, Trans.). New York: Harper Collins.
55.
Unterman, I., & Davis, R. (1984). Strategic management for not-for-profit organizations: From survival to success. New York: Praeger.
56.
Van Til, J. (1990). Critical issues in American philanthropy: Strengthening theory and practice. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
57.
Van Til, J. (2000). Growing civil society: From nonprofit sector to third space. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
58.
Weisbrod, B. A. (1975). The voluntary nonprofit sector. Lexington, MA: Heath.
59.
Wilson, J. Q. (1995). Political organizations. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
60.
Wood, J. R., & Houghland, J. G. J. (1990). The role of religion in philanthropy. J.V.T. Associates. Critical issues in American philanthropy: Entrepreneurship and organizational change in the human services. New York: Haworth.
61.
Wuthnow, R. (1994). Sharing the journey: Support groups and Americas new quest for community. New York: Free Press.
62.
Young, D. R. (1984). Casebook of management for nonprofit organizations. New York: Haworth.
