Posted on November 1, 2003

Celebrating Philanthropy - Nonprofit Academic Research Centers

Aspen Institute
http://www.aspeninstitute.org/
Founded in 1950, the Aspen Institute fosters "enlightened, morally responsible" leadership by bringing together leaders and policymakers to address the challenges of the new century. The Institute operates internationally through a network of partners in Europe and Asia.

Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action
http://www.arnova.org/
Founded in 1971 as the Association of Voluntary Action Scholars, the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action, or ARNOVA, is a nonpartisan open forum committed to strengthening the research community in the field of nonprofit and philanthropic studies. Principal activities include an annual conference, publications, electronic discussions, and special interest groups.

Center for Civil Society Studies of the Johns Hopkins
Institute for Policy Studies
http://www.jhu.edu/~ccss/
The Center for Civil Society Studies of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies seeks to encourage the development and effective operation of nonprofit, philanthropic, or civil society organizations. The Center carries out its work through a combination of research, training, and information-sharing both in the United States and around the globe. In addition to its research activities, the Center is actively engaged in education, training, and capacity-building activities designed to improve the contribution that civil society organizations can make to societal problem solving.

Center for Community Development and Family Policy at the University of Delaware
http://www.udel.edu/suapp/ctcommunitydevel.htm
The Center for Community Development and Family Policy at the University of Delaware works with government agencies and nonprofit and community-based organizations to educate graduate and undergraduate students and practicing professionals about the issues, strategies, and techniques for improving the quality of life for families and the communities in which they reside; generate knowledge about the nature and causes of poverty and inequality in communities and among families in the United States, but especially in Delaware; assist public, nonprofit, and private organizations in Delaware to design and implement policies and programs that address important family and community needs; and disseminate information locally and nationally about the nature of, and solutions to, family and community problems.

Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania
http://www.upenn.edu/ccp/
Founded in 1992, the Center for Community Partnerships works to improve the internal coordination and collaboration of all community service programs at the University of Pennsylvania; to create effective partnerships between the university and the community; to encourage creative initiatives linking the university and the community; and to strengthen local and national networks of institutions of higher education committed to engagement with their local communities.

Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute
http://www.urban.org/content/PolicyCenters/NonprofitsandPhilanthropy/Overview.htm
The Urban Institute’s Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy produces rigorous, nonpartisan research to promote an ongoing dialogue among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers as a means for informed decision making on public policy. CNP works to build the necessary research tools, contribute to sensible theory, and develop applications that illuminate both policy and practice in the nonprofit sector.

Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Management, Arizona State University
http://www.asu.edu/copp/nonprofit
The Center for Nonprofit Leadership and Management works to enhance the effectiveness of nonprofits, especially those involved in positive youth development and human services, through interdisciplinary strategies, including facilitating curriculum development, promoting relevant research, providing technical assistance, and convening people and ideas around issues pertinent to the nonprofit sector.

Center for the Study of Philanthropy at City University of New York
http://www.philanthropy.org/
The Center for the Study of Philanthropy was founded in 1986 to provide an ongoing national and international forum for research, discussion, and public education on philanthropic trends. CSP’s activities are interdisciplinary, with a particular emphasis on multicultural philanthropy; the patterns of giving and voluntarism by different religious, ethnic, racial, gender, and economic groups; and foundations and corporations, both nationally and internationally.

Center for the Study of Philanthropy and Voluntarism at Duke University
http://www.pubpol.duke.edu/centers/philvol/index.html
Established in 1986, Duke University's Center for the Study of Philanthropy and Voluntarism has three major objectives: to support scholarly research on issues related to philanthropy and voluntarism; to stimulate the exchange of ideas and research findings among scholars and practitioners; and to encourage the development of university courses in the area of philanthropy. Past and current research projects include an examination of the predicted and actual effects of tax reform on charitable giving, research on the implications of entrepreneurial behavior in nonprofit organizations; and a study of the history of philanthropic giving.

Center for the Study of Voluntary Organizations and Service at Georgetown University
http://www.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/scholarship/
faculty/csvos.html
Established in 1997, the Center for the Study of Voluntary Organizations and Service at Georgetown University sponsors and encourages multidisciplinary and public policy research about the nonprofit sector, philanthropy, and voluntary service. The purpose of the Center is to build the future leadership of the nonprofit and voluntary sector; to enhance the abilities of current community sector leaders through professional educational opportunities and applied research; and to provide a broad educational context and understanding to students and faculty involved in voluntary services and community outreach to develop a life-long ethos for supporting voluntary activities and the nonprofit sector through direct service or professional engagement.

Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University
http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/
With more than sixty faculty members from twenty-one disciplines, the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University is one of the largest and most comprehensive academic centers dedicated to research, teaching, and practice related to philanthropy, fundraising, and the management of nonprofit organizations.

Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership — Grand Valley State University
http://www.gvsu.edu/philanthropy/
The Johnson Center encourages an understanding of the historical roots and contemporary practice of philanthropy within the university and throughout the community by focusing financial, technical, and administrative support on three goals of teaching, research, and service.

Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Harvard University
http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/hauser/
Launched in 1997, the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations is an interdisciplinary research center based at the John F. Kennedy School of Government that seeks to expand understanding and accelerate critical thinking about nonprofit organizations and civil society among scholars, practitioners, policymakers and the general public.

Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations at Case Western Reserve University
http://www.cwru.edu/bulletin/mandel_center.html/
The mission of Case Western Reserve University’s Mandel Center is to foster effective management, leadership, and governance of nonprofit organizations in human services, the arts, education, community development, religion, and other areas through education, research, and community service. In addition, the Center addresses policy and research issues in nonprofit management and leadership through its Distinguished Public Lecture Series, research colloquia, symposia, conferences, and publications.

Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Missouri-Kansas City
http://bsbpa.umkc.edu/mwcnl/
The Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Missouri-Kansas City was established in 1991 to serve the nonprofit community in Kansas City and the adjacent six-state region of Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. MCNL’s goal is to enhance performance and effectiveness in the nonprofit sector through high-quality community-oriented education, applied research, problem solving, and service.

National Center on Philanthropy and the Law at New York University School of Law
http://www.law.nyu.edu/ncpl/
The National Center on Philanthropy and the Law was established at the New York University School of Law to explore a broad range of legal issues affecting the nonprofit sector and to provide an integrated examination of the legal doctrines related to the activities of charitable organizations.

Nonprofit and Public Management Center at the University of Michigan
http://www.umich.edu/~nonproft/
The Nonprofit and Public Management Center at the University of Michigan works to advance and promote understanding of the contributions of nonprofit and public organizations and the challenges of leading them successfully by creating a stimulating and supportive environment for faculty and doctoral students with interest and expertise in the nonprofit and public sector.

Public and Nonprofit Management Program at the University of California at Berkeley
http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/PNMP/
The Nonprofit and Public Management Program at the University of California, Berkeley, was founded in 1989 to strengthen the educational opportunities available for current and future public and nonprofit professionals. The program supplies a focus for MBA students looking to augment their core business curriculum with specialized courses involving public and nonprofit management issues. The program also offers exposure to business students who will be involved with public and nonprofit organizations in less direct ways, including municipal finance and public and nonprofit consulting.

Program on Non-Profit Organizations at Yale University
http://ponpo.som.yale.edu
Established in 1978, the Program on Non-Profit Organizations at Yale University supports research on issues relevant to leading nonprofit organizations and understanding the contexts in which they function, including basic theoretical, empirical, historical, and comparative scholarship on civil society, philanthropy, and voluntarism.

Rockefeller Archive Center
http://www.rockefeller.edu/archive.ctr/
The Rockefeller Archive Center was established in 1974 to assemble, process, and make available for scholarly research the papers of the Rockefeller family and the records of various philanthropic and educational institutions founded by the Rockefeller family. The Center has recently begun to collect non-Rockefeller philanthropic records, including the archives of the Commonwealth Fund, the Culpeper Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the John and Mary Markle Foundation, and the Social Science Research Council.

Social Welfare Research Institute at Boston College
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/gsas/swri/
Founded in 1970, the Social Welfare Research Institute is a multidisciplinary research center that specializes in the study of spirituality, wealth, philanthropy, and other aspects of cultural life.

Tufts University College of Citizenship and Public Service
http://uccps.tufts.edu/#
The Tufts University College of Citizenship and Public Service was established to educate and produce committed public citizens and leaders who will take an active role in addressing community challenges throughout their lifetimes, regardless of their profession. The goals of the program are to give students the knowledge and capacities to be active citizens and community members, to contribute actively to improving conditions in our communities, and to develop and share knowledge about citizenship and public service.

Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy at the University of Southern California
http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/philanthropy/
The mission of the University of Southern California’s Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy is to promote more effective philanthropy and strengthen the nonprofit sector through research that informs public policy. The Los Angeles-based Center conducts research on philanthropy, voluntarism, and the role of the nonprofit sector in the governance and economics of America's communities, using California and the West as a laboratory, and convenes and encourages communication among the philanthropic, nonprofit and policy communities.