Nonprofits have encountered increased pressures for accountability and performance in recent years, both from their funding entities as well as the public. The adoption of performance measurement systems assumes that managers will use performance information to make better decisions. However, little research has focused on performance information use in the nonprofit sector. This study seeks to address this gap in the literature. Using survey data from several hundred nonprofit social service organizations in the United States, this article examines the extent to which reliance on various performance measures improves strategic decision making within nonprofit organizations. Authors find a positive relationship between the range of performance measures used by nonprofits and their level of effectiveness in strategic decision making. Other factors that also contribute to strategic decision making within nonprofits include effective governance, funding diversity, and education level of the executive director.

The cellular glycocalyx and extracellular matrix are rich in glycoproteins and proteoglycans that play essential physical and biochemical roles in all life. Synthetic mimics of these natural bottlebrush polymers have wide applications in biomedicine, yet preparation has been challenged by their high grafting and glycosylation densities. Using one-pot dual-catalysis polymerization of glycan-bearing α-amino acid N-carboxyanhydrides, we report grafting-from glycopolypeptide brushes. The materials are chemically and conformationally tunable where backbone and sidechain lengths were precisely altered, grafting density modulated up to 100%, and glycan density and identity tuned by monomer feed ratios. The glycobrushes are composed entirely of sugars and amino acids, are non-toxic to cells, and are degradable by natural proteases. Inspired by native lipid-anchored proteoglycans, cholesterol-modified glycobrushes were displayed on the surface of live human cells. Our materials overcome long-standing challenges in glycobrush polymer synthesis and offer new opportunities to examine glycan presentation and multivalency from chemically defined scaffolds.

This article investigates the relationship between several elements of organizational strategy and arts and culture nonprofits perceived contributions to community sustainability. We ask the following research question: What are the drivers of arts and culture nonprofits’ engagement in community sustainability? Drawing on data collected from a survey of 175 nonprofits in the state of Michigan, this article reports the findings about arts and culture organizations perceived engagement in community sustainability and factors that may foster or inhibit such engagement. The study advances our understanding of the role that nonprofit organizations play in fostering local sustainable development, and it also informs broader scholarly discourse on the role of arts and culture organizations in a society.

Community-based nongovernmental organizations have emerged as leaders in local economic development, with a growing capacity for undertaking community sustainability projects in distressed neighborhoods. Very little is known about what organizational and managerial characteristics contribute to community sustainability performance. This article seeks to address this gap in the literature. Survey data from 134 community action agencies in the U.S. were analyzed to determine which organizational and managerial factors influence the effectiveness of community-based organizations in meeting community sustainability goals. The findings from an ordinary least-square regression model suggest that community engagement, human resource capacity, county/regional government collaboration, government funding, and revenue diversification are important predictors of community sustainability performance.

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A sustainable community seeks to protect and enhance the environment, meet social needs, and promote economic success. On average, local governments lack meaningfully connecting their environmental and economic sustainability efforts to equity and social justice. Community-based organizations (CBOs) have emerged as local leaders with a growing capacity for pursuing community sustainability. Based on data from a national survey National Community Action Partnership member organizations, this study explores (1) how CBO leaders define sustainable communities; (2) how important each of the three pillars of sustainability are to their mission; and (3) with what organizations do CBOs collaborate in their pursuit of sustainable communities. A content analysis of responses to an open-ended query to define sustainable communities revealed a significant focus on the social equity pillar of sustainability which is closely linked to economic sustainability. Similarly, CBO leaders ranked social equity and economic sustainability as the highest priority for their core mission. Lastly, CBO leaders heavily engaged in local collaboration in their sustainable community efforts. Therefore, serious pursuit of sustainable cities and communities must shift from a go-at-it-alone, centralized government approach to more inclusive, collaborative efforts that take advantage of the economic-social equity sustainability focus of CBOs in both planning and implementation.

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