The Nonprofit Crisis: Leadership Through the Culture Wars

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Greg Berman (Co-Editor, Vital City; Distinguished Fellow of Practice, Co-Editor, Vital City; Distinguished Fellow of Practice, Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation)

The Nonprofit Crisis

Leadership Through the Culture Wars

Greg Berman (Co-Editor, Vital City; Distinguished Fellow of Practice, Co-Editor, Vital City; Distinguished Fellow of Practice, Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation)

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
22 January 2026

Comparative politics; Sales & marketing management; Non-profitmaking organisations

A bracing look at what's gone wrong in American nonprofits--and how it might be fixed.

We rely on nonprofits every day to feed the hungry, care for the sick, and perform a host of other essential work, but American nonprofits have been under siege in recent years. Attacked by the left (for being part of the ""nonprofit industrial complex"") and the right (for advancing a ""woke"" agenda), nonprofits have also faced a serious threat from within: a rising generation of staffers who expect their employers to share their social justice convictions.

In The Nonprofit Crisis, Greg Berman takes an in-depth look at the challenges faced by American nonprofits in the years since Donald Trump's first election. It highlights the very real problems that have plagued the nonprofit sector and shows how some organizations have lost their way during the culture wars. Berman, an award-winning nonprofit executive, argues that if nonprofit leaders cannot figure out a way to handle the challenges of racial justice, the generational divide, and political polarization effectively, we are doomed to a future of declining public trust in some of our most important American institutions. The Nonprofit Crisis offers nonprofits, and those that care about them, a way forward in trying times.

By: Greg Berman (Co-Editor Vital City; Distinguished Fellow of Practice Co-Editor Vital City; Distinguished Fellow of Practice Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation)
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 211mm, Width: 143mm, Spine: 17mm
Weight: 240g
ISBN: 9780197786307
ISBN 10: 0197786308
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 22 January 2026
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Acknowledgments Part I: A World of Pain Introduction: Nonprofits Under Attack Chapter 1: Fault Lines Chapter 2: The Generational Divide Chapter 3: Polarization Chapter 4: The Rise and Fall (and Rise Again?) of DEI Part II: A Way Through Chapter 5: Good Stewardship Chapter 6: Who Decides? Chapter 7: The Nonprofit Mentoring Crisis Chapter 8: Mission Creep Chapter 9: Leadership Transition Conclusion: The Challenge of Accountability

Greg Berman is the co-editor of Vital City and the distinguished fellow of practice at the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. He previously served as the executive director of the Center for Court Innovation from 2002 to 2020. Part of the founding team responsible for creating the Center, he helped guide the organization from start-up to an annual budget of more than $77 million and more than 600 employees. Under his leadership, the Center for Court Innovation received the Peter F. Drucker Award for Nonprofit Innovation. He is the author of several books, including Gradual: The Case for Incremental Change in a Radical Age, which was named one of the best books of 2023 by The Economist.

Reviews for The Nonprofit Crisis: Leadership Through the Culture Wars

Berman provides the most holistic and practical treatment of the overarching task of nonprofit leadership since [Jim] Collins' 2005 [Good to Great and the Social Sectors]. His book is a timely and worthy successor, not least because it traces how the nonprofit world has subsequently fallen into disarray. * Daniel Stid, The Art of Association *