The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate YOURinsight and critical thinking in response to our course material this week. You may accomplish this in a number of ways… Personal or other real-world examples (with additional explanation) Commentary or critique…question or problematize something we discussed this week Link to a relevant video or article (with additional explanation) Questions for further consideration Exploring further implications of various ideas Other comments that indicate the depth of your understanding of the course material …but NOT by merely summarizing or restating the course material. You may respond to the optional prompt OR some other aspect of the weekly material that interests you. Overall, the goal is to show that you have been thinking critically about some aspect of our weekly course material and that you can develop some insights that are distinctly yours…we’re looking for your original thinking in response to the course material this week. Click the start assignment button above to open a textbox where you can write (or paste) your response. Your response should be insightful but also concise (200-400 words, 2-3 paragraphs) use the power point attatched University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication Ch 8 A struggle is under way for the ‘soul’ of nonprofit America…the sector and its individual organizations are caught in a force field among four competing pressures pulling them in a number of competing directions… University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication Ch 8 Commercial and professional impulses may be gaining the upper hand and significantly displacing the voluntaristic and civic activist impulses Important implications for the balance distinctiveness and survival imperatives between [survival imperative gaining the upper hand] University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication the Ch 8 …exposed the sector to potentially existential risks manifested, among other things, in new assaults on the charitable giving deduction, deepening exposure to local taxes and user fees, government payment methods that advantage for-profit vendors, and declining public understanding of how the sector operates, or why it is needed. May be time to reset the balance University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication Ch 8 3 Scenarios (1) The Status Quo Scenario (celebration & drift) (2) The Social Enterprise Scenario (3) The Renewal Scenario University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication Ch 8 The Renewal Strategy (1) Renewing the nonprofit value proposition (2) Improving government-nonprofit partnerships (3) Strengthening nonprofit finance (4) Improving public understanding University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication Communication IS the real work of the nonprofit Social construction invites us to think about the complexities of human interaction and consider what we are making together in our communication with other people… requires a keen awareness of what is emerging in various situations and thinking critically about how we can communicate in response to influence the process of social construction …what the ancient Greeks (the first communication scholars) called phronesis, practical wisdom or the virtue of good judgment University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication Communicative L-M-G A communication perspective moves us toward a more relational approach that emphasizes social processes over personal cognition, hybrid agency over excessive individualism, a nexus of relations over abstract positionality, living systems over machines, and socially constructed situations over objective circumstances. …also reveals something about the nonprofit itself — that it is deeply relational University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication Meaningful Work A communication perspective demonstrates that meaning is not ‘in’ nonprofit work as an objective feature of the work itself, nor is it merely a psychological state of personal perception…meaningful work is a discourse, a way of talking about work that creates deep structures of meaning that shape how we make sense of our experiences. …should organize nonprofit work around the mission and connection that each individual gives to their work, rather than assuming that there is meaning in the work itself or rather than trying to make it look or feel like work in other sectors University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication International Work …always involves ongoing negotiations to develop shared meanings about the language and terminology that define the work, conflicts over what counts as knowledge in various situations, managing tensions and paradoxes that inevitably arise between religion and modern life, and meeting the financial demands of serving multiple masters with different interests To be nonprofit means looking beyond ourselves to improve the state of humanity and build civil society, even beyond our own shores…requires a level of humility, patience, and a willingness to learn that are at the core of what it means to be nonprofit University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication Collaboration & Organizational Partnerships Effective collaboration (value) is the ability to exert influence among members and stakeholders (authority) in such a way that leads to the existence of a social entity (identity) that has the capacity to act and make a difference (agency) in a specific realm of nonprofit work. Thinking ‘collabrocatively’…focusing on the communicative constitution of distinct organizational forms that have the capacity to take meaningful action, and communicating in ways that are characterized by emergence, exploration, and engagement University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication Communication IS the real work of the nonprofit Just like communication, the nonprofit is primarily about what it makes, what it creates, not simply what it reacts to. And just like communication, the nonprofit has positive value on its own terms; it’s not merely an instrument to be used by supposedly more important entities and interests. University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication Communication IS the real work of the nonprofit The nonprofit has always been focused on creating a better present and future for those without voice, resources, representation, or societal connections…from a communication perspective, those doing the important work of the nonprofit can also create and shape a better world through interactions with other people…the nonprofit isn’t just about fixing problems; it’s also about molding a better future through human connection. University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication Communication IS the real work of the nonprofit Being nonprofit requires a keen appreciation of difference, specifically in how we understand and give meaning to the world around us. A communication perspective enables us to see that difference in practices, policies, culture, etc. are constructions that give meaning to the world. This moves us away from judgments of good and bad, because we recognize that our own ways of doing things are social constructions as well. This lets us take positions of respect, humility, inclusion, and patience as we work with and through those differences. This is the work of the nonprofit University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication University of Colorado Boulder Department of Communication Purchase answer to see full attachment Tags: Non Profit Organizations The Resilient Sector Revisited Lester Salamon public understanding strengthening value proposition User generated content is uploaded by users for the purposes of learning and should be used following Studypool’s honor code & terms of service.