Students completing master of nonprofit studies present capstone projects

Students completing coursework for the Master of Nonprofit Studies degree in the School of Professional & Continuing Studies are presenting capstone projects this week. Capstone projects represent research planned during their program of study and completed during the program’s final course, the integrative seminar.

Capstone presentations are closed to the public, but are attended by fellow students, program mentors and faculty along with invited guests. In several cases, capstone project research has led to presentations and publications after graduation, and to program improvement and revision based on the results of research.

In many cases, nonprofit studies students are nonprofit professionals working in local and regional nonprofit organizations. As a result, the result they complete for their capstone project often has direct applicability toward their nonprofit organizations.

Below are the presenters’ names along with the title and abstract of their presentations.

Katima Farrow

Life after Incarceration: How Reentry Programs are Aiming for Success

With nearly 6,613,500 people incarcerated in 2016, approximately 95% of them will be released back to their communities at some point. Reentry efforts have sought to unlimited the barriers ex-offenders face upon reintegrating back into society by providing programs that address housing, employment, transportation, mental health treatment, and substance abuse treatment. While there has undoubtedly been an increase in the number of programs and services available for former offenders, previous research has suggested that community-based reentry programs need to be evaluated more to determine their influence on reintegrating ex-offenders successfully. This study involved collecting quantitative data from one-on-one interviews with 2 participants who participated in a prison reentry program or a community-based reentry program. According to the findings, programs have an essential role in addressing ex-offenders ' needs for success. However, changes are needed to programs-existing policies and procedures to ensure that ex-offenders are getting all of their needs met. The objective of this study aims to produce a more comprehensive understanding of the reentry process, which in turn may enable correctional agencies to better assist offenders in their adjustment to life outside of prison.

Claire Galvin

Barriers and Facilitators of Nonprofit Community Involvement

Community-facing organizations have recently been critiqued for catering to donors instead of prioritizing community involvement. This lack of community engagement can lead to organizations not being as effective at the work they aim to do within these communities. Studies also show that organizations that have a more equal distribution of power engage more with their communities. This research project investigated how power distribution in Richmond-area nonprofits impacted the way that their communities were involved within their organizations. Findings from this study suggest that nonprofit fundraisers are more invested in creating community representation within their organization rather than cultivating a more diverse donor base. Participants in this study also believe that if more employees in their organization are involved in fundraising, the more money they could raise to serve their communities.

Katie Rhodes

Relationships between Nonprofit Board of Directors and Staff Members

Research regarding the existence of workplace relationships in a nonprofit generally focuses on the interactions between the Executive Director and members of the Board of Governance. While research reports that the relationship between the Governing Boards and Executive Directors are important, relationships amongst nonprofit constituents extend beyond the narrow focus of existing research. Thus, this case study was created to determine the relationship experiences of Board of Governance Members with staff members within a nonprofit. Existing for-profit research allows for a greater understanding of how particular relationships affect staff members of an organization and even correlates those relationships with overall organizational success. However, similar research in the nonprofit sector is lacking. Thus, a better understanding of current lived experiences of nonprofit constituents such as Governing Board Members and staff members provides greater understanding of how the for-profit findings translate into the nonprofit sector. To determine the relationship experiences of these two groups, data was collected using a semi-structured survey process. Data was analyzed to determine common themes. The results showed that board structure correlates with the existence of relationships and ultimately the job satisfaction of employees. Results also revealed a connection between passion, structure, procedure, and collaboration in regards to relationships and the ultimate correlation to job satisfaction and motivation.

Julie Roller

Organizational Networking, Leadership, and Community Engagement: A Case Study of the Revitalization of an Impaired Watershed in Richmond, Virginia

Green infrastructure is an increasingly important element in urban environments in order to mitigate the results of climate change and provide healthier living environments for urban residents. Discrimination and socio-economic status are some of the determining factors in the access and availability of green spaces and amenities. This paper describes an exploratory case study of the collaborations between municipal and nonprofit organizations involved in the revitalization of an impaired watershed in Richmond, Virginia. Findings suggest networking of agencies and nonprofits with strong mission alignment, can increase organizational capacity by sharing specialized training and resources. Success can also be impacted by the institutional knowledge maintained in the network system, as well as the ability to engage community members over a sustained period of time.

Marco Thomas

Equity as a Measure in Program Evaluation

Changes to equity and inclusion mean, not only including, but also valuing, and sharing power with, community members and stakeholders of various backgrounds. In addition to race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender identity, physical and mental abilities, as well as where they intersect, should be represented throughout the entire evaluation process. Countless surveys make assumptions about communities without knowing the culture of the community. This study explores where equity does and does not exist, in the process of creating and conducting the evaluations that are used to measure the successful execution of nonprofit programs. The inclusion of program participants and stakeholders has been shown to increase program participation and stakeholder buy-in. The purpose of this study was to examine the evaluation process of nonprofit human service, organizations, in the central Virginia area to explore where equity does and does not exist, in the process of creating and conducting the evaluations. The methodology undertaken by the researcher was a mixed-method research design. The analysis of the data allowed us to understand if the organizations conducted any type of evaluations, who participated in the design process if funding was available specifically for the evaluation process, the organization’s capacity to perform evaluations, specifically equitable and inclusive evaluations, views on stakeholder engagement, and how the collected data was used.

Wyatt Ulrich

Nonprofits and Government Agencies Addressing the Needs of Mental Health Community

Nonprofit organizations have been utilizing cross-sector collaboration to address problems that are not able to be solved on their own. A partner to make said collaboration can be with any organization, business, or volunteer who has the same goals as the nonprofit organization. Mental health nonprofit organizations specifically need more partners due to how little the world knows about mental health and mental illnesses. The government is one partner many mental health organizations aim to collaborate with. Government contracts have been known to help with the many challenges nonprofit organizations face like funding and services. Previous research has suggested this collaboration has swayed nonprofit organizations from their mission due to competition and hindrances that come about in the collaboration. Nonprofit organizations need to stay on track with their mission and not worry about competition. Therefore, this collaboration could be a negative one. This study uses qualitative data from interview questions asked to employees in mental health nonprofit organizations, to analyze if there is a connection between mission fulfillment and government collaboration in the mental health nonprofit community. The findings have shown a little towards the previous research of the competition, but not enough to say if it is true or not. There are some themes showing a good relationship in the partnership as well, indicating this collaboration could be a good one for nonprofit organizations to consider. There needs to be more research done to conclude if the collaboration has been efficient. Persons in the nonprofit community can take this research into their nonprofit organizations, deciding if this collaboration could be used for their own. Policymakers could also take this research into account for future collaborations with nonprofit organizations. The findings hope to help shape what nonprofit organizations and researchers do in the future, to help with the never-ending problem of mental illness.

The Nonprofit Studies program in SPCS offers a graduate certificate and master’s degree in nonprofit studies. The program is designed for professionals working in nonprofit organizations, but also offers a 15-month master’s program for recent graduates seeking to enter the nonprofit field. The 15-month option provides two structured internship experiences to provide students hands-on nonprofit organization experience.