Apocalypse Now for Nonprofits?

Transcript Now Available - Click Here! (PDF format, 33 pages, 693 KB)

A complete, edited transcript is now available of the February 20 panel discussion, cosponsored by Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal and The Nonprofit Quarterly, entitled

Apocalypse Now for Nonprofits?

     Light, Ni, Schambra, Salamon, and Frumkin

"During these troubled times, what lies in store for the nonprofit sector, and what do we need to do about it? Along with every family in America, the nonprofit sector is wondering about its future. Will we miraculously survive as we largely do today? Will we starve our organizations to the core or emerge from the current economic calamity mostly intact? Will we fight the prevailing downturn on behalf of our individual institutions and leave others to defend themselves, or instead will we join forces to shore up the sector as a whole? In the aftermath of this financial crisis, will we have real options and choices?" New York University political scientist PAUL LIGHT recently posed these questions, along with some answers, in an article for the Winter 2008 issue of The Nonprofit Quarterly ("Four Futures" - click here to access the article on the NPQ web site). 

On Friday, February 20, Hudson Institute's Bradley Center co-sponsored with NPQ a panel discussion of Professor Light's article. Panelists, alongside PAUL LIGHT, included LESTER SALAMON of Johns Hopkins University; GreatNonprofits CEO PERLA NI; and PETER FRUMKIN of the University of Texas at Austin. The Bradley Center's WILLIAM SCHAMBRA moderated the discussion.