Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies

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CVSS Working Paper Series
Many of the following CVSS Working Paper titles are available for downloading to the public.
Click here to access our working papers in PDF format.


No. Name Author
1. Environmental Conditions and Founding Processes in Organizational Creation: A Comparative Case Study Agnes Meinhard
June 1995
4. Board Renewal and Rejuvenation Knud Jensen
July 1996
5. Donating Behaviour and Attitudes: An Exploratory Study of the Differences in Age Cohorts Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
January 1997
6. Women's Voluntary Organizations and the Restructuring of Canada's Voluntary Sector: A Theoretical Perspective Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
January 1996
7. Government Department Leads Successful Change Challenge: National Voluntary Health Organizations Plan for Future State Irene Devine
Hedley G. Dimock
October 1997
8. Competition or Collaboration? Preliminary Results of a Survey of Women's Voluntary Organizations Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
December 1997
9. 'Reinventing' the Third Sector: Alternative Service Delivery, Partnerships and the New Public Administration of the Canadian Post-Welfare State B. Mitchell Evans
John Shields
May 1998
10. Community Service Programs in Toronto's Secondary Schools Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
November 1998
11. Entrepreneurial Ventures in Nonprofit Organizations: Determining Probability for Success Susan Fitzrandolph
Leslie Miller
December 1999
12. The Impact of Volunteer Community Service Programs on Students in Toronto's Secondary Schools Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
November 1999
13. Neoliberal Restructuring and the Third Sector: Reshaping Governance, Civil Society and Local Relations B. Mitchell Evans
John Shields
July 2000
14. Structuring Student Volunteering Programs to the Benefit of Students and the Community Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
July 2000
15. Strategic Responses of Voluntary Social Service Organizations to Funding Changes: The Ontario Situation

***A revised version of this paper is now available in the Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, Volume 19, Issue 1, 2002.

 Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
August 2000
16. Revenue Diversification among Canadian Voluntary Organizations: A Response to the External Environment

***A revised version of this paper is now available in Nonprofit and Management and Leadership, Volume 16, Issue 1, 2005.

 Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
November 2000
17. Jewish Identity, Social Capital, and Giving

***A revised version of this paper is now available in S. Broniarcyzk, and K. Nakamoto (Eds.) Advances in Consumer Research, Volume 29, 408-413 (2002).

 Ida Berger
Brenda Gainer
March 2001
18. A Regression Model Explaining Predisposition to Collaborate Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
August 2001
19. Responses of Canada’s Voluntary Organizations to Shifts on Social Policy: A Provincial Perspective Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
December 2001
20. Corporate Social Responsibility in the Canadian Context: The New Role of Corporations in Community Involvement and Social Issues Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
November 2002
21. Women’s Organizations are Different: Their Response to Shifts in Canadian Policy

***A revised version of this paper is now available in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Volume 32, Issue 3, 2002.

 Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
November 2002
22. The Role of Social Capital: Bridging, Bonding or Both?

***A revised version of this paper is now available in Voluntas, Volume 16, Issue 2, 2005.

 Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
Ida Berger
November 2003
23. The Evolving Relationship Between Government and the Voluntary Sector in Ontario Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
Ida Berger
November 2003
24. Third Sector Restructuring and the New Contracting Regime: The Case of Immigrant Serving Agencies in Ontario Ted Richmond
John Shields
January 2004
25. Visible Minority Status and Philanthropy Ida Berger
Justin Azaria
June 2004
26. The Process of Institutional Isomorphism in Ontario’s Voluntary Sector Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
Ida Berger
June 2004
27. Case Studies of Commercial Ventures in Nonprofit Organizations: Determining Probability for Success Agnes Meinhard,
Louise Moher
Susan Fitzrandolph
November 2004
28. Tapping the Voluntary Potential of Ethnic Communities in Toronto Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
Ida Berger
November 2004
29. Ethnicity, Voluntary Behaviour and Social Integration Ida Berger,
Mihaela Dinca-Panaitescu,
Mary Foster
Agnes Meinhard
July 2005
30. From Philanthropic Strategy to Strategic Philanthropy: Selected Canadian Case Studies Mary Foster
Pike Wright
Agnes Meinhard
Ida Berger
November 2005
31. Closing the Loop: Corporate Links to the Voluntary Sector Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
Ida Berger
November 2005
32. Civic Engagement, Social Cohesion and Social Integration in Toronto, Canada Agnes Meinhard
Mary Foster
Ida Berger
November 2005
33. The Influence of Religion on Philanthropy in Canada Ida Berger
February 2006
34. Charity Auctions on the Internet: An Exploratory Study Clare Chua
Ida Berger
March 2006
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New study completed by CVSS in partnership with the Government of Ontario on risk management and insurance for non-profit organizations is now available in both official languages.

  • Taking Risks Safe Way
  • Prendre des risques en toute sécurité

    • We welcome post doctoral fellow Dr. Katie Misener to the CVSS research team. Her post doctoral fellowship is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for 2009-2010.

    New working papers are added to CVSS Working Paper Series.


    9% of Canadian employers are nonprofit organizations, employing 20% of the Canadian labour force. This translates to 2 million jobs.
    The nonprofit sector accounts for 6.8% of Canada's GDP while the agriculture sector accounts for 1.5%, mining, oil and gas for 4.0%, retail for 5.0%, food and accommodation for 2.3% of the nation's GDP.
    63% of nonprofit organizations are small and operate with an annual budget of less than $100,000. Only 30% of these small organizations have paid staff. Generally their paid staff numbers less than 2 full-time employees.
    Six and a half million Canadians volunteer in nonprofit organizations, but because many volunteer at several organizations, Nonprofit and voluntary organizations report a combined volunteer complement of over 19 million. This translates into 1.1 to 2 billion hours of volunteer labour representing about 7.5 full-time jobs per voluntary organization.
    Most nonprofit sector managers are women, ranging from 50% in hospitals and universities to 66% in other nonprofits. This compares favourably with the for-profit sector, where only 36% of managers are women.
    54% of nonprofit organizations rely exclusively on volunteers to carry out their missions.
    More than two thirds of the employees in the nonprofit sector are women, compared with less than half in the for-profit sector.
    • pause
    • Spring 2006. The Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies: A Decade of Growth and Achievement. This publication provides an overview of the achievements of the first decade of research and education at CVSS. Hard copies are available.

    • 2005:

      Spring | Fall