Nonprofit Policy Forum

The mission of Nonprofit Policy Forum (NPF) is to serve as an international journal that publishes original research and analysis on public policy issues and the public policy process critical to the work of nonprofit organizations.　NPF provides a forum and an authoritative and accessible source of information for scholars, leaders, and policy-makers worldwide. A primary goal of NPF is to provide nonprofit leaders and policy-makers with readily accessible and relevant scholarly research. In addition to being an accessible source of information, NPF creates a publishing venue for the expanding population of nonprofit-public policy scholars. Because the field of nonprofit studies is interdisciplinary in nature, the range of disciplines for both authors and readers spans a wide array of interests. Increasingly, the global community recognizes that progress in achieving goals and solving serious social and economic problems will require more than government action alone. The people employed in the sector and the millions of volunteers it mobilizes have the ability to extend the government's reach, engage grass-roots energies, build cross-sector partnerships and reinvigorate democratic governance. The intent of NPF is to help policymakers design more effective policy, stimulate greater public involvement and support, promote more favorable policies, and thereby increase the contribution that nonprofits make in addressing social, economic and environmental problems and enhancing democratic practice.

Each issue of NPF offers five research-based articles and a special feature, alternating among book reviews, interviews, case studies, and research reports. Topics include analysis and evaluation of tax policies, reviews of regulatory policies and their impact on nonprofit organizations, national security policy and civil liberties, policy advocacy and lobbying, government funding of nonprofit organizations, the role of faith-based institutions in service delivery, church and state relations, disaster relief, the role of nonprofits in economic and community development, and alternative organizational arrangements for nonprofit and social enterprise activity. Additionally, public policy issues in specific sub-fields such as health care, social justice, the environment, education, and the arts are included. Moreover, it is important that NPF feature articles of comparative public policies affecting the nonprofit sector in different countries, and the influence of transnational NGOs on global policy issues.

Nonprofit organizations play an increasingly critical role in the development of national economies and societies worldwide. Recently, we’ve witnessed the growing significance of nonprofit sector influence in shaping international affairs in fields as diverse as international trade and environmental conservation. Nonprofit Policy Forum (1) brings a focus to this area of knowledge, (2) gathers the growing number of new contributions in this field in one place, and (3) stimulates further research and analysis. Our hope is that through this journal an even greater number of scholars in the field are encouraged to devote their attention to the policy issues that affect nonprofit organizations. Therefore, we see NPF as an investment in knowledge building.