nonprofit - Publications - Faculty & Research

March 2024 (Revised May 2025)
Case

Governing OpenAI (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Suraj Srinivasan and Will Hurwitz

In late November 2023, OpenAI’s new board of directors took stock of the situation. The company, which sought to develop artificial general intelligence (AGI)—computer systems with capabilities exceeding human abilities—was looking to regain its footing after a chaotic... View Details

Citation

Educators

Purchase

12 PM – 1:30 PM EDT, 15 Jun 2021
Virtual Programming

HBS On Board Session

Join the HBS Social Enterprise Initiative for the launch of On Board, a new program designed to inspire and support alumni serving on nonprofit boards. In this first session, Professor Kash Rangan will host a conversation with Anne Wallestad of BoardSource on the shift... View Details

September 2023
Case

Derek Aguirre

By: Leslie Perlow and Hannah Weisman

Derek Aguirre is the executive director of a nonprofit organization in Detroit, Michigan that uses the sport of squash as a vehicle to support young people in low-income urban areas. The case discusses his path to pursue meaningful work and his reflections on the... View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Job Search; Happiness; Well-being; Work-Life Balance; Nonprofit Organizations; Social Enterprise; Business Startups; Sports; Education; Mission and Purpose; Education Industry; Sports Industry; Service Industry; United States; Boston; Detroit

Citation

Educators

30 Aug 2023
News

Harvard Business School Announces 2023 Goldsmith Fellows

06 Oct 2003
Research & Ideas

The Growth of the Social Enterprise

operations. Thus, the key distinctions between the two organizational forms, affiliates and branches, are ownership, governance, and control. Nonprofits choosing the branch approach should consider the potential trade-offs between... View Details

Keywords: by Carla Tishler

Research Summary

Cross-Sector Partnering

By: James E. Austin

This on-going research project is examining the motivations, dynamics, and effectiveness determinants of partnering between nonprofit organizations, businesses, and government entities. The first major output of the research focusing on nonprofits and businesses was... View Details

Aug 26 2016
Brochure

Board Governance Programs

October 1998
Case

CRA Managed Care, Inc. (C)

By: Myra M. Hart and Susan Harmeling

Chronicles an entrepreneur's transition from chairman/CEO of a large privately held company, to chairman of a public company, to board member, to president of several major nonprofit boards, to founder of a new nonprofit for women business owners and founder of a new... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Leadership; Nonprofit Organizations; Governing and Advisory Boards; Entrepreneurship; Personal Development and Career; Gender; Management Skills; United States

Citation

Educators

Purchase

Dec 07 2017
Article

Simple Lessons, Shared Values, and Unlocking Potential

Profile

Katie Laidlaw

hope to one day be the leader of a large, nonprofit funding agency that addresses social inequity and supports social enterprise. Upon graduation, my career vision still holds true. At HBS, I gained tactical skills and valuable... View Details

Keywords: Consulting

01 Sep 2023
Blog Post

Harvard Business School Announces 2023 Goldsmith Fellows

from the nonprofit and public sector to attend HBS, these fellowships enable the School to award $10,000 to a select number of incoming MBA students. Beginning with the Class of 1990, 257 incoming students have received the fellowship.... View Details

October 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

Bridgespan Group, The

By: Allen S. Grossman and John D. Kalafatas

Bain & Co., a consulting firm with a client list that ranges from entrepreneurial start-ups to global corporations, wanted to increase its involvement with nonprofit organizations. Rather than continuing to integrate the work into the existing organization, Bain... View Details

Keywords: Nonprofit Organizations; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Problems and Challenges; Leadership Style; Growth and Development Strategy; Consulting Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

September 2002
Case

KaBOOM!

By: James E. Austin and Jose Miguel Porraz

KaBOOM! is a nonprofit organization developing playgrounds in partnership with corporations and communities. It has grown since 1995 to a national organization that has built 338 playgrounds in partnerships with over 40 companies. This case deals with the nature of... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Strategy; Nonprofit Organizations; Business and Community Relations; Growth and Development

Citation

Educators

Purchase

04 Dec 2018
Video

What Inspires You in Your Work?

26 Apr 2010
News

Harvard Business School Leadership Fellows Program Announces 2010-2011 Recipients

25 Jan 2000
Research & Ideas

Strategic Alliances

Where once "corporate giving" meant writing an annual check to a favorite charity, more recently businesses and nonprofit organizations (NPOs) have joined forces to achieve their separate, but related missions. When these partnerships... View Details

Keywords: by Nancy O. Perry

Research Summary

Business Leaders and the Social Sector

By: James E. Austin

This research involed a multifaceted, multi-year study of corporate and business leader involvement in the social sector. This examined: the extent and nature of, and motivation for, Harvard Business School graduates' involvement with nonprofit and social-sector ... View Details

October 2019
Case

How to Encourage Others to Give and When to Pass the Torch? Insights from The Philanthropy Connection

By: Christine Exley and Kathleen McGinn

This case follows the co-founder and president, Marla Felcher, of The Philanthropy Connection (TPC). TPC is a nonprofit organization that centers around collective giving: members of TPC make an annual contribution that is then distributed to select nonprofit... View Details

Keywords: Giving And Philanthropy; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Motivation and Incentives; Nonprofit Organizations

Citation

Educators

Purchase