This reference work defines more than 1,200 terms and concepts that have been found useful in past research and theory on the nonprofit sector. The entries reflect the importance of associations, citizen participation, philanthropy, voluntary action, nonprofit management, volunteer administration, leisure, and political activities of nonprofits. They also reflect a concern for the wider range of useful general concepts in theory and research that bear on the nonprofit sector and its manifestations in the United States and elsewhere. This dictionary supplies some of the necessary foundational work on the road toward a general theory of the nonprofit sector.

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Robert A. Stebbins is a professor of Sociology at the University of Calgary. He is author of The Franco-Calgarians: French Language, Leisure, and Linguistic Lifestyle in an Anglophone City and Amateurs, Professionals, and Serious Leisure.

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This book will be useful for major business administration programs and associations that work with nonprofits.

American Reference Books Annual

More than 60 pages of bibliography provide an excellent resource for anyone wishing to review the key literature in the field.

Philanthropy UK

The collection of terms and concepts for which definitions are offered here is wide-ranging, and the great majority of them are of real significance for those with broad interests in the nonprofit sector and the organizations related to it. The definitions are cogent, clear . . . I would say this volume has substantial utility as a reference tool.September 2008

Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly

[A] useful book to have on the bookshelf whether nonprofit manager, consultant, or government official.2010, Volume 21

VOLUNTAS :Intnl Jrnl Voluntary & Non-profit Organizations

. . . offers over 1,200 entries that review prior theoretical and research aspects of nonprofits. It highlights the multidisciplinary facets of the field with a review of the basic terminology of philanthropy, politics, and volunteerism. The goal is to have these entries eventually become the benchmark for researchers, along with novice readers, while reaching a global audience. Entries are listed in alphabetical order, and most are cross—referenced to a generous 60—page bibliography. Academics and researchers can benefit from the clustering of these entries into 10 conceptual areas of the nonprofit sector, which include the topics of law, religion, and association management. . . . Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates, graduate students, faculty/researchers, and practitioners of nonprofit management.

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