The aim of this paper is to explore how the marketisation of welfare shapes the organisation and provision of shelter services for victims of intimate partner violence. It does so by examining understandings of quality among senior shelter officials in Sweden, a context increasingly shaped by New Public Management reforms, where non-profit, for-profit, and public shelters compete for public funding. Based on interview data, three primary themes emerged: shelter environment, services provided, and the shelter workforce. Most officials stressed the need for a secure, dignified, and home-like setting, but differences also surfaced. Non-profit representatives emphasised counselling for long-term well-being, empowerment, and sustained support, while for-profit officials focused more on collaboration with residents. A recurring topic was prioritising professional staff over volunteers, signalling broader professionalisation trends within shelter work. Concerns were raised about how this shift might impact values traditionally upheld by non-profit shelters. The paper then initiates a critical discussion on how market forces might influence the construction of quality in shelters, with particular attention to non-profits’ financial situation, advocacy work, and core mission. Finally, it underscores the need for further research on marketisation and non-profit shelters, both in Sweden and internationally, in light of evolving welfare systems.

In this paper, we suggest a research agenda based on a review of literature exploring gender in nonprofit organizations (NPOs) published in key field-specific journals in nonprofit studies. The literature review shows that gender is often included as an unproblematized variable and that few studies focus on organizational processes that (re)produce gender inequalities and promote gender equality in NPOs. There is thus a need to expand our knowledge concerning gender in NPOs. The purpose of this paper is therefore to contribute to the development of empirical and theoretical work concerning organizational processes that (re)produce gender in NPOs. In order to inspire such endeavors, we outline a research agenda that proposes an understanding of gender informed by gender theory, an acknowledgement of NPOs as arenas where gender is (re)produced, and a development of theories on NPOs as gendered organizations.

By now, mission drift is established as one of the cardinal sins of hybrid organizing (Jones, 2007). Broadly defined as the perceived discontinuity between organizational goals and actions, mission drift is inextricably linked to nonprofit marketization (Eikenberry & Kluver, 2004). Not just one thing, different forms of nonprofit marketization can induce different forms of mission drift. For instance, when pressured to meet contractual targets, NPOs may engage in cherry-picking or creaming practices shifting focus from those in need to those who (a) are able to participate (Hustinx & De Waele, 2015), (b) are (more) easy to serve (Dart, 2004), and/or (c) can afford (Khieng & Dahles, 2015). Likewise, rising levels of resource uncertainty due to competitive tendering is likely to stimulate vendorism among NPOs. Lastly, NPOs can decide to strategically cut back on their advocacy efforts due to the introduction of business-like practices. Baines (2010, p. 14) for example notes that the introduction of performance measurement and process standardization resulted in “paid nonprofit staff hav[ing] little or no time to devote to advocacy”. In a similar vein, Dong, Lu, and Lee (2022, p. 9) observe that high levels of commercial income diminished nonprofit advocacy efforts by Chinese NPOs, reasoning that “engagement in mission-related but unprofitable activities becomes less attractive” to commercialized NPOs.

Despite the widespread belief that marketization can induce mission drift, large-N research examining the relationship between different manifestations of (a) nonprofit marketization and (b) mission drift remains largely absent to date. This is important, as it provides insight to what extent mission drift is in fact likely, and which specific dynamics underlying both dynamics are in fact associated. In this study, we aim to tackle this issue by analyzing primary survey data collected from nonprofit executives in Sweden, Belgium and the US (N = 831). In addition to basic organization information (size, task, age), questions included indicators of both nonprofit marketization and mission drift.

This is the third themed issue in the Journal of Nonprofit Education and Leadership (JNEL) in which researchers around the world examine regional and national training and education programs for individuals with civil society leadership roles. When we as editors set our sails in the early years of the last decade, the third issue was always our planned destination. However, as with most voyages, things do not always go according to plan. As we now proudly present the third issue, we are already hard at work with two more themed issues—one with a focus on a set of countries in Southeast Asia and another with a focus on regional mappings and studies. Over time have we come to realize that this voyage has no one harbor, to arrive at once and for all, and that the true delight is the cruise itself.

While most shelters for abused women in Sweden used to be run by the women’s movement, about half of the shelters are, today, operated by private companies. The social services’ procurement of these shelters has resulted in increased demands for quality and monito-ring. This article examines perceptions of quality regarding shelters among local politicians on municipal level and managers in the social services. The analysis shows that perceptions of quality range from adherence to the social services’ assignment orders to evidence, cost-effectiveness, and competence among staff both at the social services and shelters. Moreover, an overly “caring” attitude among staff both at the social services and shelters is portrayed as problematic and unprofessional. The article concludes that the social services’ work with quality, procurement of, and placements in shelters can constitute an unwieldy conf lict surface where logics and practices typical of both market and welfare are pitted against each other

The innovative contributions of third sector organizations (TSOs) to tackle work-related societal challenges are increasingly acknowledged in policy and research, but rarely in Nordic working life studies. The article helps fill this knowledge gap by an empirical mapping of efforts by Swedish TSOs to promote work inclusion among people considered disadvantaged in the regular labor market, due to age, disabilities, origin, etc. Previous studies of social innovation help distinguish their innovativeness in terms of alternative or complementary ways to perceive and promote work inclusion in regard to Swedish labor market policies. By combining various measures for providing and preparing work opportunities, addressing their participants through individualistic and holistic approaches, and manag-ing work inclusion by varying organization, funding, and alliances, the mapped cases seem to innova-tively compensate for government and market failures in the work inclusion domain to some extent, while also being limited by their own voluntary failures.

Undersökningen är en fallstudie av hur föreningsfotbollen i Stockholm och de nationella förbunden hanterade Coronapandemin våren 2020. I Sverige poängterades det personliga ansvaret vilket medförde att föreningar och ideellt engagerade ledare gavs ett stort ansvar att tolka, hantera och kontrollera efterföljden av de rekommendationer och restriktioner som beslutades. Resultaten visar att det på alla nivåer fanns farhågor att även ett tillfälligt stopp av verksamheten kunde få långsiktiga negativa konsekvenser bland annat på grund av minskad fysisk aktivitet. En nyckelhändelse var att St Erikscupen kunde genomföras vilket under pandemin adderade den ovana rollen för de ideella ledarna att försöka hålla vissa hygienregler samt att se till så att det inte samlades mer än max 50 personer i samband med matcherna.

This is a case study of how football associations in Stockholm handled the Corona pandemic in the spring of 2020. In Sweden, personal responsibility was emphasized, which meant that associations and voluntary leaders were given a great responsibility to interpret, manage and control compliance with the recommendations and restrictions decided. The results show that at all levels there were fears that even a temporary shut-down could have long term negative consequences. A key event was that the St Erikscup could be carried out, which during the pandemic added the unfamiliar role for the volunteers to try to keep certain hygiene rules and to ensure that no more than a maximum of 50 people gathered in connection with the matches.