A Maturity Model for Measuring Nonprofit Organizational Development

Nonprofit organizations providing social services face a growing concern for accountability and productivity on the part of funding sources. Methods for improving organizational functioning come and go, with one in vogue until the next one comes along. Organizational or management fads are usually offered as one-size-fits-all solutions to nonprofits in the form of training and technical assistance formats, the efficacy of which has not been established by more rigorous methods than anecdotal or case study evidence. Yet considerable interdisciplinary evidence from the social sciences suggests that organizations mature in some systematic ways lending support to the notion that developmentally appropriate interventions might have greater impact on targeted organizations than conventional approaches. This book interprets relevant literature from multiple disiciplines and presents a maturity model designed to diagnose nonprofit organizational develop-ment in a rigorous manner. The book is addressed to professionals evaluating organizational inter-ventions and those whose organizations are evaluated.