The Boston Nonprofit Sector’s Quest for Organizational Effectiveness

By Dawn Hutchison, Susan Margolin, Andrew Wolk

Boston’s nonprofit sector is comprised of thousands of organizations providing essential products and services that contribute to the vitality and growth of Boston’s communities. This 2001 report takes an in-depth look at how these organizations are seeking to build organizational effectiveness and what needs exist in the sector. Drawing upon research in the Boston and national nonprofit sectors, the paper begins with an overview of how organizational effectiveness is defined by various stakeholders. It also identifies five current models that seek to increase organizational effectiveness in greater Boston, and presents feedback from local stakeholders — nonprofit leaders, outsourced service providers, and funders—on each model. The paper concludes with a recommendation to establish a Nonprofit Learning Network that would enable nonprofits to perform standardized self-evaluations.