Jack Quarter

The Interchangeability of Paid Staff and Volunteers in Nonprofit Organizations

This article examines the interchangeability of paid and volunteer labor. It reports on estimates and prevalence of such interchangeability through a series of studies of Canadian nonprofits: two national surveys of nonprofit organizations and case studies of two hospitals. The first study found evidence that volunteers were replacing paid staff and that paid staff were replacing volunteers, sometimes in the same organization. The second study explored this pattern further and found the percentage of tasks that were interchangeable. The third study found that about two-thirds of the organizations in the sample agreed that the interchangeability of tasks occurred, but the data indicated that it was limited to about 12% of tasks, not dissimilar to the estimates from the case studies. The implications of the results are discussed, and a model for the interchangeability of paid and volunteer labor is presented.

Integrated Social Accounting for Nonprofits: A Case from Canada

Whereas social accounting has been strong in its critique of conventional accounting, to date it has not been as effective in developing accounting frameworks consistent with its principles. This is particularly true for nonprofit organizations. The costs of nonprofits can be easily measured; however, not captured by conventional accounting is the value of their nonmonetized resources such as volunteers. This paper argues that social accounting for nonprofits would benefit by creating accounting statements that combine the economic and social impact of an organization (referred to as an integrated approach). After discussing some historic examples of integrated social accounting, the paper presents a Canadian case study in which the value added by volunteers of a nonprofit organization is combined with its financial statements in an Expanded Value Added Statement. By combining social and economic information, a very different performance story of the organization emerges.

Comparing Member-Based Organizations within a Social Economy Framework

The purpose of this study is to determine whether nonprofits that serve a membership (that is, mutual nonprofits) have more in common with cooperatives (also member-oriented associations) than with nonprofits that are oriented toward the public. A MANOVA was used to analyze the effect of organizational type of which there were four categories (publicly oriented nonprofits, mutual nonprofits, cooperatives without shares, and cooperatives with shares) on the five dependent measures (social objectives, volunteer participation, democratic decision making, government dependence, and market reliance) derived from the social economy framework. The results offer some support for the hypothesis that serving a membership is an important factor in the basic characteristics of an organization, and that is true regardless of whether the incorporation is nonprofit or cooperative. However, charitable status also appeared to influence on the results. The implications for the social economy and civil society are discussed.

The Value of Volunteering for a Nonprofit Membership Association: The Case of ARNOVA

Although research indicates that volunteer labor is of significant value to many nonprofit organizations, this value is generally not included in the organizations financial accounting statements. This study discusses the value added to nonprofit membership organizations of the volunteering done by its members. It uses an exploratory case study of the Association for Research on Nonprofits Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA) to demonstrate how volunteer labor is valued and presented within a social accounting framework by utilizing the Expanded Value Added Statement. This is followed by discussion of some of the benefits and limitations of such a method and policy implications.

Accounting for the social economy: the socioeconomic impact statement

Organizations within the social economy have unique characteristics, yet their accounting procedures do not reflect this uniqueness, and rather are designed for private-sector organizations that exchange their goods and services in the market. We argue that conventional accounting creates a perception that social economy organizations are users of resources and separate from the private and public sectors, rather than creators of value and an integral part of our society (Quarter, Mook, and Richmond, 2003a). This paper addresses the accounting needs of social economy organizations by presenting a model of social accounting - the Socioeconomic Impact Statement - that may help bring out the impact of such organizations. The paper presents a demonstration project of the potential utility of the Socioeconomic Impact Statement.

Researching the social economy

* Whats in a Name? by Laurie Mook, Jack Quarter, and Sherida Ryan (University of Toronto) * A Portrait of the Ontario Social Economy by David M. Lasby and Michael H. Hall (Imagine Canada), R. Mark Ventry and Denyse Guy (Ontario Co-operative Association) * The Social Economy in Quebec: Towards a New Political Economy by Marguerite Mendell (Concordia University) and Nancy Neamtan (Chantier de leconomie sociale) * The Social Economy in Europe: Trends and Challenges by Roger Spear (Open University) * A Comparative Analysis of Voluntary Sector/Government Relations in Canada and England by Peter R. Elson (Mount Royal University) Capturing Complexity: The Ontario Government Relationship with the Social Economy Sector by Kathy L. Brock (Queens University) Notes in the Margins: the Social Economy in Economics and Business Textbooks by Daniel Schugurensky and Erica McCollum (OISE/University of Toronto) * Mandatory High School Community Service in Ontario: Assessing and Improving its Impact by Paulette Padanyi (University of Guelph), Mark Baetz and Steven D. Brown (Wilfrid Laurier University), and Ailsa Henderson (University of Edinburgh) * Strategic Partnerships: Community Climate Change Partners and Resilience to Funding Cuts by Travis Gliedt, Paul Parker and Jennifer Lynes (University of Waterloo) * The Online Social Economy: Canadian Nonprofits and the Internet by Sherida Ryan Corporate Participation in the Social Economy: Employer-supported Volunteering Programs by Agnes Meinhard (Ryerson University), Femida Handy and Itay Greenspan (University of Pennsylvania) * Work Stoppages in Canadian Social Economy Organizations by Kunle Akingbola (OISE/University of Toronto & Toronto Rehabilitation Institute) * Organic Farmers and the Social Economy: Positive Synergies for Community Development by Jennifer Sumner and Sophie Llewelyn (University of Guelph) * On the Challenges of Inclusion and the Co-operative Movement for Francophone Immigrants in Ontario by Ginette Lafreniere (Wilfrid Laurier University), Maike Zinabou (MSW), Matt Riehl (MSW) and Sandy Hoy (MSW) Conclusion by Laurie Mook, Jack Quarter, and Sherida Ryan

Crisis in the Israeli kibbutz : meeting the challenge of changing times

Introduction: The Kibbutz in Crisis by Uriel Leviatan, Jack Quarter, and Hugh Oliver Kibbutz Demography by Stanley Maron Winds of Change by Shlomo Getz Work in the Kibbutz by Menachem Rosner Organization in Kibbutz Industry by Michal Palgi The Changing Identity of Kibbutz Education by Yechezkel Dar Attitudes of Parents toward Their Own Role and That of the Caregiver in Two Sleeping Arrangements for Kibbutz Children by Ronit Plotnik Second and Third Generations in Kibbutzim--Is the Survival of the Kibbutz Society Threatened? by Uriel Leviatan The Governmental System of the Kibbutz by Avraham Pavin Women in the Changing Kibbutz by Gila Adar Individual Needs and Public Distribution in the Kibbutz by Yaakov Gluck Aging--the Kibbutz Experience by Uriel Leviatan Inter-Kibbutz Organizations and Cooperatives by Daniel Rosolio Summary and Conclusions by Uriel Leviatan, Jack Quarter, and Hugh Oliver References Index

Atkinson Housing Co-operative: A Leading Edge Conversion from Public Housing

In 2003 the Atkinson community became the first public housing project to convert into a non-equity co-operative. After providing a brief introduction to the development of non-market housing policy in Canada, this paper discusses the process of creating the Atkinson co-operative. The conversion of Atkinson has produced a new model of social housing, in that Atkinson operates neither as a pure housing co-operative nor as a public housing project, but rather as a synthesis of the two models, referred to as a hybrid, or an incorporated co-operative within the public sector. The features of the hybrid arrangement are grouped within the following categories: land/property; finances; property management and administration; governance and decision-making practices; education and community programs; housing charges/rents; and living in public housing. The final section of this paper locates the Atkinson experiment within the tenant-management literature in public housing and also discusses the conversion as a process in community development. Although it is premature to determine the efficacy of this model, the results are likely to influence the movement for increasing tenant involvement in the management of public housing.

Pensions at work : socially responsible investment of union-based pension funds

Pension funds have come to play an increasingly important role within the new economy. According to Statistics Canada, in 2006, trusteed pension funds in Canada had

Credit Unions Market Niche or Market Accommodation

836 billion of assets and represented the savings of 4.6 million Canadian workers. Pensions at Work is a unique collection of papers that uses a labour perspective to deal with the socially responsible investment of pension funds. Featuring leading Canadian and international scholars, it builds on existing scholarship on socially responsible investment and on the growing interest of the Canadian labour movement in joint trusteeship. What is unique about this collection is that it synthesizes three distinct themes - socially responsible investment, pension funds, and labour studies. The contributors address an array of critical issues such as gaps in the education of union trustees of pension funds, the impact of human capital criteria on shareholder returns, the influence of corporate engagement upon corporate performance, and the nature of public-private partnerships (PPPs). Although the essays in Pensions at Work all address the nexus between socially responsible investment, pension funds, and unions, each looks at a particular manifestation of that relationship through a different disciplinary lens. This collection moves the discussion to pension funds in which union representatives are also trustees, a relatively new approach that will be of great interest to institutional investors, the labour movement, and instructors in labour studies programs.