ARNOVA Conference - Call for Participation

Call for Participation
The 34th Annual ARNOVA Conference
November 17-19, 2005
Washington, DC USA

The Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) invites participation in its 34th annual conference. The special focus area this year will be:

Nonprofits, Philanthropy and the Public Agenda: Linking Research, Practice and Policy

Nonprofit organizations influence and affect the public agenda in numerous ways-from constituting alternatives to public action to highlighting problems that should be on the public agenda; from being third party agents critical in the implementation of various social policies to providing evaluation and feedback on policy effectiveness; from independently addressing community issues to constituting alliances to address public issues. Likewise philanthropy can support or be a partner to alternatives to public policy, both domestically and internationally. Indeed, philanthropy and nonprofits are significant influences on the public agenda in most forms that that agenda takes: campaign issues, subjects for legislative hearings, court cases and regulatory rulings, public opinion polls, issues receiving media attention, the activities of international organizations, and public and private research agendas. Furthermore, nonprofits and philanthropy often seek to influence the public agenda by bringing both research and practical experience together to define issues, identify possible causes, develop potential action options and to inform policymaker and the policymaking processes. In turn, the actions of public policymakers at all levels of governance can affect demands upon and resources available to nonprofits as well as impose new costs or delegate added responsibilities. This year's conference offers an opportunity to explore the dynamics, forms, challenges and effectiveness of these interactions. Topics of interest include (but are not necessarily limited to):

• The practices of philanthropy as agents of change, catalysts of issue definition, and developers of model programs
• The role of nonprofit practitioners in identifying, addressing, and advocating for policies and programs that address problems they deal with on the front line
• The role of scholars of nonprofit organizations in identifying problems and challenges unique to the sector and developing ideas for how to respond
• The practices of the independent sector and nonprofit organizations in being advocates for policy action, including case studies focusing on specific issues or sub-sectors
• Obstacles and incentives for better communication and collaboration between researchers and practitioners
• The ways in which recent or pending public policies affect the mission, operations, and evaluation of nonprofits and the independent sector
• Methods for communicating with policymakers and assessments of the effectiveness of philanthropy and nonprofits in influencing policy activity
• The role of nonprofits and philanthropy in influencing transnational and international governance and the forces of globalization
• How education about the third sector and of future nonprofit administrators is responding to significant environmental changes brought on by globalization, technological change, shifting relations between the sectors, and demographic changes

In addition to the focus areas listed above, we solicit proposals in areas such as the management and operation of nonprofit organizations, comparative studies of the third sector, and human resources including leadership and volunteerism. Moreover, proposals can address issues related to specific sub-sectors, e.g., health, social services, religious, arts and culture, civil society, recreation, advocacy and voluntary associations, etc.