How Centers Work: Building and Sustaining Academic Nonprofit Centers.

This document presents findings about the development and sustainability of academic nonprofit centers. It describes how such centers, which focus on the management and development of the nonprofit sector, work. The findings are based on a literature review, 16 personal interviews with current or former directors of nonprofit management or philanthropy focused academic centers, and program proposals and annual reports submitted by more than 20 academic nonprofit academic centers and programs funded in the past 10 years by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. Academic centers and academic departments often have similar missions, are staffed by faculty, and influence the culture of higher education, but centers tend to be more task-focused and interdisciplinary than academic departments. Centers tend to be boundary-spanning organizations that connect academic interests with external stakeholders. Centers develop in various ways, but external funders are often catalysts in center formation. The directors of academic nonprofit centers also tend to be boundary spanners, who are academic entrepreneurs with experience many traditional academics may lack. Institutional stability and academic credibility are two major challenge academic nonprofit centers face. To address these and other challenges, some recommendations are made for center directors for funding, involving faculty, building relationships, and networking. Some recommendations are also made for external funders. (Contains 12 references.) (SLD)