Some Challenges in Nonprofit and Voluntary Action Research

Abstract

This article identifies six challenges confronting research on nonprofit organizations and voluntary action: more attention must be given to informal volunteering as a social process; the dark side of nonprofit organizations has been given insufficient attention; more research should focus on member-benefit organizations; the distinction between volunteer organizations and paid-staff organizations should be emphasized; we must understand more completely what factors contribute to values of service and altruism in paid staff; and nonprofits research must examine and incorporate the experience of developing nations.