PAD 4144 – Nonprofit Case Study

Your final paper is an individually written comprehensive assessment of a real nonprofit organization. This paper is worth 30% of your final grade. The percentages at the end of each segment denote the weighted percentage for that portion of the paper. Proper spelling, grammar and APA formatting and citations must be used when and where appropriate. You can be penalized up to ten percent of your grade for significant spelling, grammar, and formatting errors.

The specific organizational case may be chosen from an organization featured in the readings from your own past work experience, or drawn from a secondary source. Research should include a variety of secondary (and /or primary) data sources including newspaper and magazine articles, the web, annual reports, interviews, etc. All data must be properly cited. You must interview at least one person from the organization (ideally more) and cite at least two academic journal articles, see list of nonprofit journals below.

This paper is expected to be between 10-12 pages in order to appropriately cover all of the necessary content. You must include a title page and appropriate supporting documentation in the appendix, neither of which is included in your page count.

The following items are to be analyzed and evaluated:

Overview (25%):

• Identify the (10%):
  • Name and purpose
  • Mission, vision and values
  • 501 status
  • Type of Form 990 filed last year
  • NTEE code
  • IRS activity code
  • Key stake holders (see table 2.1)
    • Type of board, the board members, and the committee structure
    • Max number of board members in bylaws and their max tenure
    • Board’s legal and moral responsibilities (see chapter 4)
    • Executive leadership (is the ED/CEO a voting board member?)
      • Salary of (see org’s Form 990)
    • Provide background info on (15%):
      • Historical overview of how the organization came to be
        • Brand history (chapter 8)
      • Need for the organization in the context of private market and government failure (see Chapter 2)
      • Past mergers (Chapter 8)
      • Brand development

Assess the Organization in the Context of (75%):

• Internal Environment (5%)
  • Mission statement, vision statement and values (see Chapter 7)
    • Do they meet the requirements discussed in the lecture?
    • How are they aligned to one another?
  • Organizational culture
  • Internal dynamics that affect the organization (Chapter 3)
• Leadership (10%)
  • The ED/CEO ability to apply management theories successfully in the workplace
    • Does the manager fulfill the recommendations on pages 236-238 and how?
  • The relationship and dichotomy between the board and the CEO (see Chapter 4).
  • The board’s effectiveness (see Chapter 4)
  • Executive transition plan (succession plan) (see Chapter 5)
• Operations (25%)
  • Programs offered
  • Strategic plan (see Chapter 7)
    • The process
    • Considering all external strategic issues?
    • Goals, strategies, objectives (evaluate these in the context of what was described in the lecture)
    • Evaluation component?
    • How is the strategic plan aligned to org mission, vision, and values?
    • The limitations of the strategic plan
    • SWOT analysis (see Page 179)
  • Volunteer programs, involvement, or initiatives (Chapter 9)
    • Structure of?
    • Job descriptions?
    • Policies relating to?
    • Budget for?
    • Orientation and training for?
    • Clear goals?
    • Recognition program?
  • Marketing plan (Chapter 10)
    • Serve the mission?
    • Methods?
    • Target market reach?
    • Brand development
    • Crisis plan?
    • Online media presence
  • Capacity building initiatives/attempts (Chapter 7)
  • (Operational) performance
    • Performance measurement indicators (see Chapter 7)
    • Balanced score card (Chapter 6)
    • Dashboard tool (Chapter 6)
    • Formal mechanisms for accountability in place (Chapter 6)
  • Finances (25%)
    • Financial Statements (Chapter 12)
      • Operating budget
      • Statement of financial position
      • Statement of activities
      • Statement of cash flows
      • Statement of functional expenses
    • (Financial) Performance
      • Revenue steam (break out with percentages)
      • Expenditures
      • Funds (chapter 12)
      • Financial ratios used (see Chapter 6)
      • Performance measures
        • Balanced score card (Chapter 6)
        • Dashboard tool (Chapter 6)
      • Formal mechanisms for accountability in place (Chapter 6)
    • Fundraising
      • Activities, plans and campaigns (Chapter 13)
        • Overall process
          • Solicitation strategies
          • Prospect identification, qualification, and cultivation process
          • Donor acknowledgement and recognition methods
        • Corporate philanthropy initiatives
        • Foundation relationships
        • Individual donors
        • Planned giving initiatives
      • Income strategies
        • Earned income strategies (Chapter 14)
          • Nonprofit business ventures
        • Policy (5%)
          • Internal
            • Personnel policies
              • Human resource management initiatives (Chapter 9)
            • Whistleblower policy
          • External
            • Lobbying and advocacy work
          • External Environment (5%)
            • Government relationships, contracts, and grants (Chapter 15)
              • Opportunities and challenges over history
            • Current partnerships, collaborations, strategic alliance, or corporate integration (Chapter 8)
              • Drivers of?
              • Obstacles and successes?
            • External environmental pressures (Chapter 3)