ARNOVA 2009: Cleveland Rocks

John C. Ronquillo — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:13:37 +0000

This week is going to be action-filled in the best possible way…another academic conference! From November 18 to 21 several of the Third Sector Network’s contributors will be in Cleveland for the 39th Annual Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) Conference. I am very much looking forward to the conference because I always come away with an immense flood of new information. I love the multidisciplinary aspect of the conference; it is simply amazing to see so many people from different parts of the world and in various fields converge in one place for a few days to discuss their common (and sometimes not-so-common) research themes.

The theme for this year’s conference is Philanthropy in Communities: Finding Opportunity in Crisis. It is relevant and timely, and I am really excited to see the research that will be presented. I will be presenting two papers: the first is on managerial perceptions of innovation value in public and nonprofit organizations, and the second will be a case study of the now defunct Arizona 2-1-1 Online program. I’m also excited to be participating in a colloquium entitled “Does Real Action Happen Online?” I’m very eager to hear my colleagues’ response to what I view as a question of ever-increasing importance.

In addition to presenting my research, Lindsey McDougle and I will also be helping with the social media coverage of the conference. I’ll post a few updates on my blog and here at thirdsectornetwork.org. Also joining me in the social media coverage are:

Debra Beck (laramieboardlearningproject.blogspot.com)
Heather Carpenter (nonprofitleadership601.blogspot.com)
Graham Dover (www.inov8.ca & www.si2.ca)
and guest bloggers Taylor Peyton Roberts, Alice Walker and Debra Weiner

Additionally, you can follow the conference on Twitter where conference-goers will be using the #arnova09 hashtag. We will also be using Cover It Live for a live stream of activities during the conference. You can follow both the tweets and the Cover it Live stream at http://arnova.ning.com.

So, even if you can’t join us in Cleveland, we hope you’ll join us online!

Posted in conference, nonprofit, philanthropy Tagged: ARNOVA09, conference, nonprofit, philanthropy

An Introduction to the Third Sector Network

John C. Ronquillo — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:00:52 +0000

The month we spent in residence as summer fellows at the RGK Center at the University of Texas at Austin was enlightening and transformational, but we’re all in agreement that we have much unfinished business to address. This blog, we hope, will allow us to continue the discussion.

We are all in agreement that the world is rife with talk and activity of and within the third sector. Our interests are common, but each of us has managed to target something rather unique.

Photo courtesy of RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service, UT Austin

Nonprofit organizations, volunteerism, business associations, public charities, family foundations, art as investment, corporate social responsibility, generation X and Y in the nonprofit workplace, higher education, social enterprise…and the list of topics goes on and on. We are particularly concerned with what makes certain aspects of these topics “nonprofit,” “philanthropic,” or generally socially beneficial. Our common thread is our desire for the development of theory and practice in the third sector, and as our RGK mentor Peter Frumkin put it in his book On Being Nonprofit, the “structural features [that] give these entities a set of unique advantages that position them to perform important societal functions neither government nor the market is able to match.”

However, recent structural changes within some organizations have challenged that ideal…but odds are, one of us is interested in those changes, and we’ll eventually end up discussing it at some point.

We look forward to providing what we hope will be insightful commentary, and we invite you to take part in the discussion.

Posted in nonprofit, philanthropy, third sector Tagged: introductions, nonprofit, philanthropy, third sector

Third Sector Network » philanthropy

ARNOVA 2009: Cleveland Rocks

An Introduction to the Third Sector Network