Social Innovation: Comparative Perspectives investigates socio-economic impact. Since it is hard to establish causality and to measure social properties when investigating impact, especially at the level of society, the book narrows down impact to one priority aspect: social innovation - understood as organizations' capacity to generate novel ideas, ways and means of doing things, of addressing public and social problems of many kinds. This volume's primary assertion is that the Third Sector, specifically through stimulating civic involvement, is best placed to produce social innovation, outperforming business firms and state agencies in this regard. By investigating actor contributions to social innovation across seven fields of activity, Social innovation: Comparative Perspectives develops our understanding of why and how the Third Sector is central to functioning, cohesive and viable societies. This volume is based on contributions of the project "ITSSOIN - Impact of the Third Sector as Social Innovation" funded by the European Commission under the 7th framework programme. It will be of insight across disciplines, in particular to the growing social innovation community, innovation researchers more generally and to non-profit scholars. The practical relevance of the book will be of interest to European and national policy makers and practitioners across different sectors.

This book explores the roles and visions foundations have of, and for, themselves in the new Europe. The leading contributors go beyond a quantitative profile of foundations in Europe, and probe deeper into their role and contributions in meeting the economic, cultural, environmental and educational needs of European societies. Includes a mapping and appraisal of foundation visions, policies and strategies, and an overall assessment of the current and future policy environment in which they operate. The Politics of Foundations combines the detailed comparative analysis of current challenges facing foundations, with individual country studies on Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom and also includes a comparative view from the United States. This valuable reference will be of interest to researchers and students of foundations, policy-making, comparative politics and international business, as well as policy makers and professionals.

This new volume presents a systematic and comparative analysis of the current and future role of foundations in Europe and beyond.
While cross-national studies of business firms, government agencies and service-providing nonprofit organizations are increasingly becoming available, little is known, in a systematic way, about the challenges foundations are facing. This book therefore includes a mapping and appraisal of foundation visions, policies and strategies, and an overall assessment of the current and future policy environment in which they operate. It goes beyond a quantitative profile of foundations in Europe, and probes deeper into their role and contributions in meeting the economic, cultural, environmental and educational needs of European societies. Developed from an international research project, this study includes twenty country studies comparing foundations in Europe, the Europe Union and the US.
This valuable reference will be of interest to researchers and students of foundations, policy-making, comparative politics and international business, as well as to policy-makers and professionals.

The growth of philanthropic foundations in numbers and significance raises two immediate questions. First, what makes for success and failure of foundations' projects and activities? Second, what yardsticks or benchmarks are used to measure performance and track goal attainment? The purpose of this book is to delve deeper into the complex set of issues that lie behind the performance and wider impact of philanthropy. Performance Measurement in Philanthropic Foundations looks at the strengths and weaknesses of philanthropic foundations, which are independent of both the market and ballot box and yet open to signal and incentive deficiencies. The authors use in-depth case studies from different countries to illustrate the problems and challenge much of the conventional wisdom on foundation "success" and "failure." The book also outlines the main contours of a proactive governance and management style to address those problems.

The growth of philanthropic foundations in numbers and significance raises two immediate questions. First, what makes for success and failure of foundations' projects and activities? Second, what yardsticks or benchmarks are used to measure performance and track goal attainment? The purpose of this book is to delve deeper into the complex set of issues that lie behind the performance and wider impact of philanthropy. Performance Measurement in Philanthropic Foundations looks at the strengths and weaknesses of philanthropic foundations, which are independent of both the market and ballot box and yet open to signal and incentive deficiencies. The authors use in-depth case studies from different countries to illustrate the problems and challenge much of the conventional wisdom on foundation "success" and "failure." The book also outlines the main contours of a proactive governance and management style to address those problems.

Over the past three decades or so, the nonprofit, voluntary, or third sector has undergone a major transformation from a small cottage industry to a major economic force in virtually every part of the developed world as well as elsewhere around the globe. Nonprofit organizations are now major providers of public services working in close cooperation with governments at all levels and increasingly find themselves in competition with commercial firms across various social marketplaces. This transformation has come with ever-increasing demands for enhancing the organizational capacities and professionalizing the management of nonprofit institutions. The Routledge Companion to Nonprofit Management is the first internationally focused effort to capture the full breadth of current nonprofit management research and knowledge that has arisen in response to these developments. With newly commissioned contributions from an international set of scholars at the forefront of nonprofit management research, this volume provides a thorough overview of the most current management thinking in this field. It contextualizes nonprofit management globally, provides an extensive introduction to key management functions, core revenue sources and the emerging social enterprise space, and raises a number of emerging topics and issues that will shape nonprofit management in future decades. As graduate programs continue to evolve to serve the training needs in the field, The Routledge Companion to Nonprofit Management is an essential reference and resource for graduate students, researchers, and practitioners interested in a deeper understanding of the operation of the nonprofit sector.

Once largely confined to the biggest cities in the mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes states, philanthropic foundations now play a significant role in nearly every state. Wide-ranging and incisive, the essays in American Philanthropic Foundations: Regional Difference and Change examine the origins, development, and accomplishments of philanthropic foundations in key cities and regions of the United States. Each contributor assesses foundation efforts to address social and economic inequalities, and to encourage cultural and creative life in their home regions and elsewhere. This fascinating and timely study of contemporary America's philanthropic foundations vividly illustrates foundations' commonalities and differences as they strive to address pressing public problems.

Once largely confined to the biggest cities in the mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes states, philanthropic foundations now play a significant role in nearly every state. Wide-ranging and incisive, the essays in American Philanthropic Foundations: Regional Difference and Change examine the origins, development, and accomplishments of philanthropic foundations in key cities and regions of the United States. Each contributor assesses foundation efforts to address social and economic inequalities, and to encourage cultural and creative life in their home regions and elsewhere. This fascinating and timely study of contemporary America's philanthropic foundations vividly illustrates foundations' commonalities and differences as they strive to address pressing public problems.

'What a welcome gift!' John Clark, Project Director, UN Secretary-General's Panel on UN-Civil Society Relations. 'This book truly breaks new ground in the field of civil society studies by introducing an innovative assessment tool which can be of use to practitioners, policy-makers and researchers alike.' Kumi Naidoo, Chief Executive Officer, CIVICUS Civil society - comprising the activities of non-state organizations, institutions and movements - has in recent years emerged as the major force for change in the realms of politics, public policy and society both globally and locally. Yet, despite the crucial importance of this political phenomenon to the principle and practice of democracy, it eludes definition and systematic understanding. This book provides a comprehensive and flexible framework for the definition, measurement, analysis and interpretation of civil society based on the innovative 'Civil Society Diamond'. Written as a guide for both practitioners and academics, the book presents precise and insightful solutions to the issues of how to understand the concept of civil society, where to locate it theoretically and empirically, and which techniques are best suited to its measurement. The approach presented here has been successfully adopted across a wide range of civil society organizations in over 30 countries. The author draws on and applies a diverse repertoire of indicators, tools and data - suitable for various organizational forms, practical contexts and theoretical perspectives - which measure the effectiveness of civil society initiatives and reveal certain strategic and policy options. The aim is to promote and facilitate structured, informed and fruitful dialogue within civil society organizations and between them and the governmental, corporate and academic actors with whom they are now so integrally linked.