Evolving Sectoral Relationships: Global & Local Views

Denver, Colorado
Grand Hyatt Denver
November 20-22, 2014

The beginning of the twenty-first century marks the crossover of functions and erosion of boundaries between the civil society/nonprofit, government, and business sectors. In the United States, massive government bailouts of big corporations stick in citizens’ memories. Earlier this year, foundations put together a plan to salvage the Detroit pension system and save the Detroit Institute of Arts’ renowned collection. Across the world, nonprofit organizations are expected to run efficiently like a business, be held accountable like a government, hold governments more accountable, and find innovative solutions for both entrenched and emergent societal problems; meanwhile, business organizations are rallying under the banner of corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship and talking the nonprofit talk—if not yet walking the nonprofit walk.

Myriad examples like these reinforce a powerful message to nonprofit and voluntary sector leaders about blurring sectoral distinctions and evolving sectoral relationships, replacing the long-dominant “three sector” view. This trifecta allowed us to frame and seek to solve problems in society according to the inter-related contours of market, state and nonprofit conceptions. As rhetoric of “blurring boundaries” abounded over the recent decades, so has talk of the increasingly complex problems facing nonprofits and challenges to traditional institutional forms. As sectoral walls shift, the rules of the game are changing. One advantage of these changes is greater experimentation and innovation, including multi-sectoral partnerships to tackle the toughest social problems of our time. Yet, nonprofit and voluntary organizations are challenged more than ever to establish a clear identity and to articulate their distinctive characteristics.

What next? We invite critical reflections on the evolution, nature, and future of sectoral relationships, from both global and local perspectives. Some potential questions that emerge include: To what extent can the existing theoretical frameworks (e.g., the three failure theories) effectively capture the complexity of sectoral relationships today? What are the emerging theories and models that enhance our understanding of new options and possibilities? What are the exciting developments in theory and practice cross-nationally and how can they inform our understanding and actions in local contexts? How do nonprofit and voluntary organizations establish their unique values and core competencies as they increasingly interact, collaborate, and compete with organizations from the other sectors? What roles do globalization, demographic shifts, and the advent of information and communication technology play in the evolving relationships of the nonprofit and voluntary sector to the state and businesses? What novel local examples can inform practice elsewhere? Can micro-level examples inform macro-level ideas and theories? What implications do these new developments have for nonprofits, beneficiaries, and constituents, especially the most vulnerable populations?