Nonprofit Religious Organizations and Entrepreneurialism

SES 0960617John D.宾夕法尼亚州立大学对有组织的美国宗教的研究几乎完全集中在教会和教派上。本研究旨在探索一种研究不足但日益重要的宗教组织类型：“跳伞”或非营利宗教组织（NRO）。研究人员利用以前关于创建组织的工作，提出了关于精神企业家如何开始新的宗教企业以及社区环境如何影响NRO创建率的假设。一个数据集将被组装，这将允许探索的来源，过程和结果的精神marticalism。调查人员将调查两组新注册的NRO，了解其创始人，创始决定和活动，以及其组织的现状，如是否仍然可行，如果可行，其规模，结构和重点。最后，还将与一部分答复者进行更广泛的不限成员名额的电话和面对面访谈。更广泛的影响这项研究有可能照亮美国宗教和非营利活动的一个重要领域，这对美国的宗教和社会活力做出了重要贡献，同时将盈利性宗教主义的研究与精神宗教主义相结合。

SES 0960617John D. McCarthyPennsylvania State UniversityChristopher P. ScheitlePennsylvania State UniversityResearch on organized American religion has focused almost exclusively on congregations and denominations. This research aims to explore an understudied but increasingly significant type of religious organization: 'parachurch' or nonprofit religious organizations (NROs). The investigators draw upon previous work on the creation of organizations to develop hypotheses about how spiritual entrepreneurs start new religious enterprises, as well as how community contexts might affect rates of NRO creation. A data set will be assembled that will allow the exploration of the sources, processes and consequences of spiritual entrepreneurialism. The investigators will survey two cohorts of newly registered NROs about their founders, founding decisions and activities, and the current status of their organization such as whether it remains viable and, if so, its size, structure and focus. Finally, a sub-set of respondents will be contacted for more extensive open-ended telephone and in-person interviews. Broader ImpactsThe research has the potential of illuminating an important domain of religious and nonprofit activity in the U.S. that contributes importantly to its religious and social vitality while at the same time integrating the study of profit making entrepreneurialism with spiritual entrepreneurialism.