Handy, Femida
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Publication Nonprofits and the Promotion of Civic Engagement: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding the “Civic Footprint” of Nonprofits within Local Communities(2014-01-01) Handy, Femida; Shier, Micheal Lynden; McDougle, Lindsey MThe literature suggests that nonprofit organizations provide civic benefits by promoting engagement within local communities. However, there exists minimal empirical evidence describing the ways in which nonprofits actually undertake this role. In order to address this omission, we conducted interviews with personnel of nonprofit organizations in one rural community in the United States. Our preliminary findings indicate that nonprofit organizations promote civic engagement through programs and activities that: 1) engage volunteers and donors; 2) bring community members together; 3) collaborate with organizations within and beyond the community; and 4) promote community education and awareness. Together, these findings help to develop a working model to understand the civic footprint of nonprofit organizations with methodological implications for future research that would seek to measure the extent to which nonprofits promote civic engagement.Publication Reporting Volunteer Labour at the Organizational Level: A Study of Canadian Nonprofits(2007-03-01) Mook, Laurie; Handy, Femida; Quarter, JackVolunteer contributions in the production of services are an important resource internationally. However, few countries include volunteer contributions in their national accounts, even though many encourage their populations to engage in volunteering. At the organizational level, many nonprofit organizations using volunteers often limit their input to a footnote in annual reports acknowledging their contribution; few estimate their value in financial terms. As a result, their financial accounts lack information upon which to base decisions affecting the organizations and the communities they serve. Additional information is required to assess the impact of volunteers in individual nonprofits as well as the sector as a whole. This study focuses on Canada, one of the few countries that include volunteers in the national accounts, to examine to what extent nonprofit organizations estimate a financial value for these contributions and include this in their financial statements. This paper reports the results of an online survey of 661 nonprofits from across Canada. In order to understand why some organizations keep records for volunteer contributions and quantify them, two sets of explanatory factors are explored: organizational characteristics and the attitude of the executive director. We find larger organizations were more likely to engage in record keeping and estimating volunteer value, as were organizations with a relatively large group of volunteers and volunteer programs. The attitude of the executive director is important in determining which organizations engage in these practices.Publication Practice What You Preach? The Role of Rural NGOs in Women's Empowerment(2006-01-01) Handy, Femida; Kassam, MeenazThere is considerable theoretical and empirical support for wage differentials between the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. This research article examines how executive directors of 377 nonprofits across Canada view their wages. Executive directors’ perceptions, especially concerning their own wages, are important because it is in this context that they make choices about where to work. This, in turn, determines the managerial labor supply for the sector. The article begins by presenting a brief review of the theoretical explanations offered by scholars for wage differentials, looks next at the empirical findings on wage differentials, and then presents the research findings. In discussing the findings, the article analyzes what motivates executive directors to work in the nonprofit sector despite the negative wage differential and examines the research results for gender differences with respect to wages, wage differentials, and motivations.Publication To profit or not to profit: Women entrepreneurs in India(2007-06-06) Handy, Femida; Ranade, Bhagyashree; Kassam, MeenazEntrepreneurial activity attracts certain kinds of individuals, whether it is to promote a social cause in the nonprofit sector or profit in the for-profit sector. This article looks at the behavior of women entrepreneurs in India in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors to test for potential differences and similarities. We chose two groups of entrepreneurial women who founded and led relatively similar-size organizations in the same city and who provided services primarily to women and children. Our findings show that while all nonprofit entrepreneurs receive a high payoff from promoting social causes, there is no single unifying payoff for for-profit entrepreneurs. Family background and support, however, play an important role for both sets of entrepreneurs. We find that experience in the sector, social class, caste, and education influence entrepreneurial behavior and that this influence differs by sector.Publication Student Volunteering in China and Canada: Comparative Perspectives(2012-01-01) Hustinx, Lesley; Handy, Femida; C'naan, Ram AWhile many of the theoretical frameworks for volunteering have been developed and empirically tested in the west, our understanding of volunteering in non-Western countries, such as China, is relatively limited. Nevertheless, in recent decades enormous efforts have been made by the Chinese government to encourage and support volunteering among its citizens, especially youth. Chinese youth are volunteering in greater numbers in response to these initiatives. Given the strongly state-led nature of volunteering in China, as opposed to the voluntary, more citizen-initiated nature of volunteering in Western societies, this paper seeks to understand the impact of these contextual differences on student volunteering. Using data from 1892 questionnaires completed by university students in China and Canada, we examine differences in their volunteering. The findings show clearly the impact of the differences in socio-political structures that are reflected in the nature of students’ volunteer participation and perceived benefits.Publication Factors Influencing Women Entrepreneurs of NGOs in India(2003-07-01) Handy, Femida; Kassam, Meenaz; Ranade, ShreeThis article examines women entrepreneurs in the nonprofit sector. Entrepreneurial activity attracts certain kinds of individuals. Such self-selection is not a random event but is influenced by personal characteristics as well as socioeconomic and cultural factors. This article examines women entrepreneurs in a particular segment of the nonprofit sector in India to determine which factors influence such self-selection. Our research confirms findings by other scholars that nonprofit entrepreneurs receive a high payoff from promoting social causes. Furthermore, we find that previous experience in the sector, beliefs, culture, social class, education, and family background also play an important role. We explore some policy implications of our findings.Publication The Moral High Ground: Differentials Among Executive Directors of Canadian Nonprofits(2007-01-01) Handy, Femida; Mook, Laurie; Ginieniewicz, Jorge; Quarter, JackThere is a considerable literature, albeit inconclusive, on whether workers in the nonprofit sector are paid less than their counterparts in the private and public sectors. For example, a large national study in the U.S. showed positive and negative differentials for some occupations and industries, but no systematic differences that are sector wide (Leete, 2000). Other studies targeted to specific sub-sectors are mixed in their results: many support these negative wage differentials and others do not (Bond, Raehl, & Pitterle, 1999; Naci Mocan & Tekin, 2003; Naci Mocan & Viola, 1997; Preston, 1989; Shahpoori & Smith, 2005). In comparing the wages offered by for-profit firms and nonprofit organizations, it is helpful to note at the outset that nonprofits often have greater financial restraints than their counterparts in the for-profit sector and, hence, may offer lower wages. But the reverse may also be possible: for-profit firms that are subject to market discipline and responsibility to shareholders may have less scope to offer higher wages to workers. Thus it is not evident, prima facia, whether nonprofits or for-profits, would offer higher wages. Despite the lack of unambiguous evidence for negative wage differentials, nonprofit workers often perceive themselves as underpaid compared to their counterparts in other sectors. A recent survey conducted by the Brookings Institution (Light, 2003) found that nearly half of all paid nonprofit workers in the human services believe they could make more money elsewhere, but they see themselves as driven by mission not money. Another survey reported that current nonprofit executives across all sectors in the U.S. believe that they could have made more money working in another sector (Bell, Moyers, & Wolfred, 2006). Career counsellors and executive placement centres publicize the negative wage differential. For example, a prestigious business school in the U.S. offers financial aid to those students choosing to work in the nonprofit sector because "students are interested in public service careers, but their educational debt burden may inhibit them from pursuing these jobs since they tend to provide lower compensation than the for-profit sector" (Almanac, 2005, p. 2). Perpetuating the perception of lower wages are several leading websites focused on nonprofit employment. They explicitly inform individuals searching for employment that nonprofit salaries are lower than in other sectors on average. Lynda Ford, a human-resources consultant, maintains that nonprofits offer lower salaries because they compensate employees by creating a good work environment (Klineman, 2004). Furthermore, the hue and cry in the media about some excessive nonprofit salaries has given rise to a tendency to lower executive salaries in the nonprofit sector. In the last few years, federal agencies in the U.S. and Canada are also paying greater attention and giving more scrutiny to executive compensation in the nonprofit sector. Against this background, in this research we examine the perceptions of executive directors in Canadian nonprofits regarding wage differentials in the nonprofit sector compared to the for-profit sector. These perceptions, especially concerning their own wages, are important because it is in this context that executive directors make choices about where to work. This, in turn, determines the managerial labor supply for the sector. We first present a brief review of the theoretical explanations offered by scholars for wage differentials. We then turn to the empirical findings on wage differentials before presenting our findings.Publication When to Use Volunteer Labor Resources? An Organizational Analysis for Nonprofit Management(2007-03-01) Handy, Femida; Brudney, Jeffrey LVolunteer labor is commonly used to produce many goods and services in our economy. Many studies examine the supply of volunteer labor and determine why and how individuals give their time without remuneration (Freeman, 1997; Menchik, & Weisbrod, 1987; Smith, 1994; Vaillancourt & Payette, 1986). Fewer studies examine the demand for and the use of volunteer labor by organizations that receive it (Emanuele, 1996; Handy & Srinivasan, 2005). However, not surprisingly there exists a strong demand for volunteer labor; given it’s relatively low cost and individuals willing to supply unpaid labor. For example, 93% of volunteers are engaged by 161,000 nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2004 b). In the United States, a national study found 80% of charities use volunteers (Hager, 2004).Publication Advocacy by environmental nonprofit organizations: An optimal strategy for addressing environmental problems?(2001-01-01) Handy, FemidaSeveral policy alternatives exist to protect environmental quality. Environmental nonprofits advocating for better environmental quality must often choose what policies to advocate and support. This article argues that environmental nonprofits will do best by designing strategies of advocacy contingent on the net costs to the stakeholders and paying attention to the crowding-out effects of monetary incentives. It investigates the advocacy policies of 50 environmental organizations in Canada. The findings of this survey show that although reduction of net costs is espoused, market-based policies are not generally advocated, while a greater emphasis is put on regulatory approaches combined with moral suasion through the dissemination of information and educational programs.Publication The Demand for Volunteer Labor: A Study of Hospital Volunteers(2005-12-01) Handy, Femida; Srinivasan, NarasimhanThe authors challenge the assumption that organizations are willing to use all the volunteer labor available to them. Rather, they are influenced by the costs incurred of utilizing volunteer labor. This article provides a modest first look at the demand for volunteers by nonprofit institutions. Specifically, the article presents an economic analysis of the demand of volunteer labor by hospitals in the Toronto area and examines some of the factors that may determine the hospitals’ willingness to use volunteer labor. Using data generated from 28 hospitals in Toronto, which use a total of more than 2 million volunteer hr per year, the authors show that the quantity of volunteer hours demanded is a decreasing function of their costs. Other factors such as productivity, output, and labor market institutions also influence the demand for volunteers.