Evans School of Public Policy & Governance

Established in 2004, the Nancy Bell Evans Center on Nonprofits & Philanthropy (NBEC) is named in honor of Nancy Bell Evans, who has been a leader and innovator in the public and nonprofit sectors for more than 30 years.

The Center supports and disseminates cutting edge research of Evans School faculty and creates innovative learning opportunities for current and future social sector leaders at the undergraduate, graduate, and executive level. Through applied research and life-long learning, the Center serves individual leaders and elevates the social sector as a whole.

Is an equitable new normal possible?

Read our preliminary findings on lessons learned by nonprofits during the COVID-19 pandemic and what they might mean going forward.

Read the report

Research Highlight

Read the new report from NBEC on how nonprofits in Washington state are responding to the COVID-19 crisis:

Read the report

People

Our teaching team includes nationally-recognized academics and top-notch practitioners. Their areas of expertise include accounting, advocacy, budgeting, communications, evaluation, leadership, and philanthropy just to name a few.

Research

We produce research that is rigorous, analytical, and practical. It strengthens organizational management and leadership, supports cross-sector collaboration, and improves policy.

Advocacy

David Suárez. 2009. “Nonprofit Advocacy and Civic Engagement on the Internet.” Administration & Society 41(3): 267-289.

David Suárez and Hokyu Hwang. 2008. “Civic Engagement and Nonprofit Lobbying in California.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 37(1): 92-112.

Mary Kay Gugerty with Aseem Prakash, editors. 2010. Advocacy Organizations and Collective Action. Cambridge University Press.

Rachel Fyall and Michael McGuire. 2015. “Advocating for Policy Change in Nonprofit Coalitions.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 44(6): 1274-1291.

Rachel Fyall. 2016. “The Power of Nonprofits: Mechanisms for Nonprofit Policy Influence.” Public Administration Review 76(6): 938-948.

Rachel Fyall and Scott W. Allard. 2017. “Nonprofits and Political Activity: A Joint Consideration of the Political Activities, Programs, and Organizational Characteristics of Social Service Nonprofits.” Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance 41(3): 275-300.

Cross-sector Partnerships & Collaboration

David Suárez and Mary Kay Gugerty. 2016. “Funding Civil Society? Bilateral Government Support for Development NGOs.” Voluntas 27(6): 2617-2640.

David Suárez. 2011. “Collaboration and Professionalization: The Contours of Public Sector Funding for Nonprofits.” Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 21(2): 307-326.

Mary Kay Gugerty. “Outside Funding and the Dynamics of Participation in Community Organizations” with Michael Kremer. American Journal of Political Science, 52(3): 585-602, July 2008.

Nonprofit Management & Policy

Scott Allard. 2017. Places in Need: the changing geography of poverty. Russell Sage Foundation Press.

Jeff Marshall and David Suárez. 2014. “The Flow of Management Practices: An Analysis of NGO Monitoring and Evaluation Dynamics” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 43(6): 1033-1051.

David Suárez and Jeff Marshall. 2014. “Capacity in the NGO Sector: Evidence from a National Survey of Cambodia.” Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 25(1): 176-200.

David Suárez. 2010. “Street Credentials and Management Backgrounds: Careers of Nonprofit Executives in an Evolving Sector.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 39(4): 696-716.

Rachel Fyall. 2017. “Nonprofits as Advocates and Providers: A Conceptual Framework.” Policy Studies Journal 45(1): 121-143.

Rachel Fyall and Beth Gazley. 2015. “Applying Social Role Theory to Gender and Volunteering in a Professional Context.” Voluntas 26(1): 288-314.

Social Impact Measurement & Evaluation

The Goldilocks Challenge: The Goldilocks Challenge: Right-Fit Evidence for the Social Sector. Co-authored with Dean Karlan, forthcoming 2018, Oxford University Press.

Regulation by Reputation: Monitoring and Sanctioning in Nonprofit Accountability Clubs. 2016. With Joannie Tremblay-Boire and Aseem Prakash. Public Administration Review: 76(5): 712–722.

Mary Kay Gugerty and Aseem Prakash, editors.Voluntary Regulation of Nonprofit and Nongovernmental Organizations: An Accountability Club Framework, 2010. Cambridge University Press. Mary Kay Gugerty and Aseem Prakash.

Trust but Verify: Voluntary Regulation Programs in the Nonprofit Sector. 2010. With Aseem Prakash. Regulation and Governance. 4(1): 22-47. Awarded the “Best Article of 2010” by the journal editors.

Herranz, Jr., Joaquín. “Quadruple Bottom Line Performance in a Networked Society.” Book manuscript in preparation.

Education

Students of the Nonprofit Executive Leadership Institute (NELI)

To prepare social sector leaders at all phases of their careers, we offer a variety of degree and non-degree learning opportunities.

  • Core Program: Degree programs include a Master of Public Administration (MPA), an Executive MPA, and a Ph.D. program.

  • Executive Education: We run one non-credit course for executives: the Nonprofit Executive Leadership Institute (NELI). In order to serve a wider variety of social sector leaders, we plan to expand our non-credit executive offerings to include more options for nonprofit executives, as well as executives in philanthropy, grantmaking, and social entrepreneurship.

  • Professional and Continuing Education: We offer two year-long certificates for emerging leaders. The Certificate in Nonprofit Management and the Certificate in Fundraising Leadership.

Course Offerings

Partners

We believe that real solutions come from powerful collaborations. Here are some of the organizations we’ve collaborated with so far and we would love to see this list grow. Contact us and let’s figure out how we can partner.

Contact NBEC