Introduction

Publications on non profit management reflect three main trends. Some books describe the nonprofit experience in different countries focusing on how these experiences reflect the case of a particular organization in its specific cultural context. These case studies provide an interesting, but not representative, documentation of the issues to be discussed. On the opposite end, other books introduce theoretical approaches and conceptual models that investigate the emergence of the nonprofit phenomenon in a comparative way. Finally, some other books focus on developing the understanding and provide the guidelines on specific themes e.g. accountability, change, marketing etc. Learning Why and How, in contrast to the above, accounts for a comprehensive view of the organizational complexity of management in the nonprofit sector.

This e-book provides a systemic view of nonprofit organizations linking micro and macro level aspects of management. It combines sociological, organizational and psychological elements of organization studies and provides an in-depth understanding of various issues and dilemmas among readers, students and executives of nonprofit organizations and civil society.