Service to the NJ Nonprofit Sector
Rutgers SPAA is committed to serving the New Jersey nonprofit sector by educating leaders, sharing research, engaging philanthropy, and encouraging voluntarism to strengthen the ability of nonprofit practitioners to meet the needs of the community.
Recognition
- SPAA is proud to be consistently recognized as a leader in nonprofit management by U.S. News & World Report.
- SPAA faculty are recognized as leaders in nonprofit management, winning prestigious awards and serving on boards of nonprofit professional organizations and academic journals.
Degrees & Certificates for Nonprofit Professionals
Rutgers SPAA offers degree and certificate programs that provide current and future nonprofit professionals with competencies in important elements of nonprofit organization management and performance, such as leadership, budgeting, grants, resource development, and more.
Degrees:
- Bachelor of Arts in Public and Nonprofit Administration (BA)
- Master of Public Administration (MPA)
- 100% Online Master of Public Administration (MPA)
- Online Executive Master of Public Administration (EMPA)
- Doctor of Philosophy in Public Administration (PhD)
Professional certificates for non-degree seeking students:
(3 courses, 9 graduate credits)
- Nonprofit Management Certificate
- Leadership of Public Organizations Certificate
- Budgeting and Financial Management Certificate
- Healthcare Administration Certificate
(non-credit)
- State of NJ Certified Public Manager® Program (CPM)
- Earn credits toward a SPAA degree upon completion
- Appreciative Inquiry for Strength-Based Leadership and Innovation in Public and Nonprofit Sectors (Ai)
> Read our Alumni Stories to see what some of our alumni do with their degrees from Rutgers SPAA
Partnerships
- Rutgers SPAA is proud to sponsor the NJ Center for Nonprofits Conference.
Faculty Expertise
SPAA faculty provide expertise in the field of Nonprofit Management, Nonprofit-Government Relations, and other issues of importance to the nonprofit sector through research and service to the field.
Rutgers SPAA Nonprofit Management Faculty:
Cleopatra Charles, PhD
- Associate Professor Cleopatra Charles studies financial management and fiscal policy issues that affect public organizations and her recent research has focused on nonprofit organizations and the relationship between governance decisions and financial preparedness in dealing with adverse circumstances.
Jiahuan Lu, PhD
- Associate Professor Jiahuan Lu studies public and nonprofit management, with a focus on government contracting, nonprofit-government relations, and nonprofit financial management. He is currently an associate editor of Nonprofit Management & Leadership and an associate editor of Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing. He was awarded the 2022 RGK-ARNOVA President's Award, which encourages innovative, foundational research in the field of nonprofit and philanthropic studies.
Lindsey McDougle, PhD
- Associate Professor Lindsey McDougle studies voluntarism, philanthropy, nonprofit management, and social inequality. She currently serves as associate editor of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (NVSQ) and served on the board of directors of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA). She was awarded the 2022 University of Maryland (UMD) Do Good Institute & ARNOVA Global Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership Award, which encourages innovative, path-breaking research in the field of “global philanthropy or global nonprofit leadership.”
Initiatives & Activities
- SPAA's New Jersey Nonprofit Panel (NJNP), led by Jiahuan Lu, collects data to examine contemporary trends, challenges, and best practices that the New Jersey nonprofit sector experiences over time in serving the state and its residents.
- SPAA's Charitable Action and Philanthropic Exploration (CAPE) Lab, directed by Lindsey McDougle, leads experiential philanthropy learning projects which benefit local nonprofits.
Recent Nonprofit Research & Scholarship
- Does Nonprofit Commercialization Help Reduce Social Inequality? Revisiting the Cross-Subsidization Hypothesis. Public Management Review. Young Joo Park, Jiahuan Lu, and Jongmin Shon. (July 1, 2021).
- Exploring Individual Predictors of Variation in Public Awareness of Expressive and Instrumental Nonprofit Brands. Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing. Madinah F. Hamidullah, Jung Ah (Claire) Yun, Lindsey McDougle, Jongmin Shon, Hyuk Yang, and Ashley Davis. (March 10, 2021).
- Capital Structure Determinants for Arts Nonprofits. Nonprofit Management & Leadership. Cleopatra Charles, Margaret Sloan, and John Butler. (Feb. 18, 2021).
Faculty Professional Engagement
SPAA faculty serve in leadership roles in various nonprofit professional and academic associations, regularly presenting research at their annual meetings, and serve on the editorial boards of several academic journals dedicated to nonprofit studies.
- Associate Professor Jiahuan Lu currently serves as an associate editor of Nonprofit Management & Leadership and an associate editor of Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing.
- Associate Professor Lindsey McDougle currently serves as an associate editor of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly (NVSQ). She served on the board of directors of the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA).