The New Zealand non-profit sector in comparative perspective [electronic resource] Tennant, Margaret; O'Brien, Mike; Sanders, Jackie; Sokolowski, S. Wojciech; Salamon, Lester M.
Material type:
- 9780478323016 (Online)
- 361.763 NEW
Item type | Current library | Call number | Status | Barcode | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
Vine library | Online | Available | On12080360 |
Mode of access : World Wide Web
This report presents an analysis of New Zealand's non profit sector, particularly its economic contribution, in international comparison. The report is intended to develop understanding and make more visible the role of non-profit organisations in New Zealand. The research was carried out as part of an international comparative non-profit research programme, initiated by the Center for Civil Society Studies at Johns Hopkins University (United States). The research draws heavily on NZ's first 'Non-profit Institutions Satellite Account: 2004' produced by Statistics New Zealand in August 2007. The report includes detailed discussion of the non profit sector's economic contribution, the shape of the sector, and contemporary issues confronting it. The report shows that New Zealand has one of the largest non-profit sectors in the world in proportional terms, and one of the most distinctive for a country with a significant Anglo-Saxon heritage. The research has significant public policy implications for the future of non-profit organisations in this country. The authors conclude that while the government has signalled its intention to encourage engagement and partnership, there are constraints on this. Partnership and collaborative models imply an equality of status that may be difficult to achieve in practice where one party is the state. Moreover, some parts of the sector have been concerned that non-profit organisations have become focused on meeting government goals rather than meeting and responding to community needs. While it is desirable that the parties work together to help achieve each other's desired outcomes, current funding and contractual approaches make this difficult to achieve. Therefore, a central challenge for the future is to move away from centrally driven, prescriptive approaches toward negotiated models that aim at achieving more collaborative working relationships but at the same time preserve the independent value of the sector. Greater commercialisation and professionalisation in the sector, and the impact of changing work and employment patterns on volunteering, also point to new challenges facing the sector and its relationship with the state.
nz