Posted on November 29, 2005

print  e-mail

Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies

Founded: 1997

Contact: Mimi Bilzor, Communications Associate

Address:
Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies
Johns Hopkins University Institute for Policy Studies
3400 N. Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21218-2688

Phone: (410) 516-5463
Fax: (410) 516-7818
E-mail: ccss@jhu.edu
URL: http://www.jhu.edu/ccss

Mission:
To improve understanding and the effective functioning of not-for-profit, philanthropic, or "civil society" organizations in the United States and throughout the world in order to enhance the contribution these organizations can make to democracy and the quality of human life.

About the Organization:
The Center for Civil Society Studies, part of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Policy Studies, combines research, training, and information sharing on the nonprofit sector and civil society issues. Its research and capacity-building activities seek to improve understanding of the role that philanthropy and nonprofit groups play in modern society and to strengthen the capacity of these organizations to carry out their missions. Acknowledging collaboration as the central mode of public problem-solving in the years ahead, the center's capacity-building activities are designed to help prepare government, business, and nonprofit managers to work effectively within evolving public-private systems. Building on studies of the American nonprofit sector conducted by center director Lester M. Salaman in the early 1980s, CCSS has extended its analysis to the international sphere, producing the first comprehensive comparative assessment of the size, structure, financing, and role of the nonprofit sector at the global level.

Current Programs:
Among the center's research initiatives, the Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project analyzes the scope, structure, financing, and impact of nonprofit activity in more than forty countries. The UN Nonprofit Handbook Project seeks to improve the visibility of the nonprofit sector in national economic statistics by promoting the global implementation of the United Nations Handbook on Nonprofit Institutions in the System of National Accounts. The Listening Post Project identifies key trends and challenges facing the U.S. nonprofit sector and the innovative strategies nonprofits have adopted in response. The Nonprofit Employment Data Project documents and analyzes employment in the U.S. nonprofit sector nationally and locally. CCSS's capacity-building initiatives include the International Fellows in Philanthropy Program, which provides research and study opportunities at Johns Hopkins for international researchers and practitioners, and the New Governance Project, which has developed a set of materials to help students and equip nonprofit, government, and business leaders to operate the "tools of government," such as grants, contracts, loan guarantees, and vouchers.

The center's Nonprofit Management Training and Education Program helps build the human and institutional infrastructure for a vibrant private nonprofit sector worldwide by equipping personnel with the skills they need to organize and manage organizations. The initiative contains three interrelated activities: the Certificate in Nonprofit Studies Program, designed to equip nonprofit managers with the practical skills and perspectives they need to operate their agencies effectively; training workshops; and the International Nonprofit Management Training Program, which prepares indigenous nonprofit trainers and technical assistance providers.

Web Site:
The CCSS Web site details the center's programs (see above) and provides a list of publications, including books, nonprofit management handbooks, and reports; information on upcoming seminars; a brochure about the center; an interview with Lester Salaman; and staff contact information and biographies.

Funding:
The work of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies is supported by public and private funders throughout the world.