Welcome to Research Friday! As part of a continuing weekly series, each Friday we invite a nonprofit expert to highlight a research report or study and discuss how it can inform and improve day-to-day nonprofit practice.

A year ago, Johns Hopkins University's Center for Civil Society Studies published a document titled, "The Nonprofit Technology Gap - Myth or Reality." The authors of the publication were curious to find out how accurately the widely held assumption that nonprofits are at a technological disadvantage reflects reality. Their findings were somewhat mixed. They reported that the majority of nonprofits rely quite heavily on technological solutions in their day-to-day operations. However, despite the fact that nonprofits seem to utilize technology more than may be expected, the majority of respondents expressed a discontent with their technological status. An official press release for the study reads:

The survey ... found that most nonprofit managers believe there is still considerable room for improvement. Less than half of respondents noted that they are "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their organization's current level of information technology. ... What is more, a significant proportion of nonprofit organizations remain well behind the curve.

While these findings are undoubtedly true…

I recently moved from the Midwest to attend graduate school for English rhetoric and composition at Arizona State University. I was fortunate enough to be hired at the ASU Lodestar Center to be the specialist in charge of AzGates. AzGates is a unique section of the Center which some of you readers may be unfamiliar with. Essentially, it’s a grant-seeking tool for Arizona nonprofits both big and small.

You might wonder why such a tool is needed. If you work for a nonprofit but your position isn’t to seek grants, or if you simply help out your community in other ways, you may think it’s easy to find grants. When I first started, I thought I’d find them with the twitch of my nose or snap of my fingers and be able to easily pass them along to you. I quickly figured out that, despite the growing number of nonprofits not only in U.S and Arizona, there are very, very few resources that collect nonprofit grant information.

What I’ve discovered through the course of learning the administrative side of AzGates as an employee, and also as an individual interested in helping those who help others, is that there’s a serious gap. Now, I’m not saying there aren’t grants, because there are! There are so many opportunities for nonprofits to receive funding. The gap is the helping hand — like when your friend tells you about a sale you weren’t aware of or when a restaurant lets kids eat free at a certain time.

Here’s a few of the insights I’ve…

"At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge," said the gentleman, taking up a pen, "it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and Destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time."

— Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

I recently joined a book club. The book for this month is, not surprisingly, Charles Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol. I have read it before and seen several adaptations for the screen and stage. But, the wonderful thing about the literary arts is that they can teach you new things with each reading.

As I was riding home from work the other day on the light-rail, I started reading this book. I was surprised at how I had never realized how closely the text relates to the nonprofit sector. The epigraph, included above, really surprised me when I read it because I had never, despite working in the nonprofit sector for over three years, thought of this section as distinctly "nonprofit" in nature.

As I read, I was impressed by the optimism and goodness of the two gentlemen taking up a collection for the poor. They provide a perfect counter-point to Ebenezer Scrooge, who is the consummate villain. He is bitter, cold, and unfeeling.

One of the visiting gentlemen tries to appeal to Scrooge's presumed generosity by remarking that "Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common…

Welcome to Research Friday! This week Nonprofit Leadership and Management student Rosela Martinez discusses her research on the role of Ethnic Identity in positive youth development.

Research Friday will return January 6th. Thank you to all our contributors and readers.

No matter what mission a nonprofit is dedicated to, be it health care, housing, conservation, etc., its mission will directly or indirectly impact youth. Likewise, youth undoubtedly have a role in the fulfillment of the mission of any organization. This is why I believe that supporting youth development is crucial for the entire nonprofit sector. In order to provide the best support to youth in diverse communities, I’d like to encourage nonprofit professionals to reflect on an important aspect of youth and human development: ethnic identity.

Adolescence is a critical time when youth develop their own personal identities (their own concepts of who they are and what makes them unique) and social identities (based on what groups they belong to and their interactions with others). Part of this process is developing an ethnic identity, which involves the exploration of one’s ethnic background (i.e., through oral tradition, cultural activities, and culture-specific behaviors), developing a sense of membership within an ethnic group, and (hopefully) developing positive feelings…

I had the pleasure of serving as Principal for a Day at Arizona School for the Arts (ASA) on October 27 via a program put on by HandsOn Greater Phoenix. The newly revived/revamped program this year paired about 25 business leaders and principals, and is designed to foster more meaningful, longer-term relationships between the participants

I became aware of this opportunity through my participation in Valley Leadership and was delighted to be selected and paired with Leah Fregulia Roberts, head of school/CEO of ASA. This pairing speaks directly to my passion for the arts – my day job is as manager for individual giving at the Musical Instrument Museum, and I serve on several music-related boards, as well as perform as a flutist and singer. My Principal for a Day experience began with a great training session led by HandsOn Greater Phoenix president & CEO Rhonda Oliver and youth program manager Sharifa Rowe which covered everything from the similarities and differences within the operating frameworks of schools and businesses to education in Arizona today to the building blocks of an effective partnership.

During my day at ASA, I had the pleasure of meeting not only with Leah but also with arts director…