Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies

Timely updates on the nonprofit sector, community efforts, and civil society.

Blog Posts

  • Follow-up Survey Shows How COVID-19 Continues to Impact Wisconsin Nonprofits

    Wisconsin’s nonprofit sector has stepped up to meet increased needs for support in the wake of COVID-19 and have found creative ways to safely pursue their missions. But nonprofit organizations have also faced significant challenges. …

    August 17, 2021
  • Leader of Co-Create Amy Hilgendorf leading a workshop

    Co-Create Connects Community and Campus to Answer Important Questions

    Co-Create Director Amy Hilgendorf sharing a Co-Create report generated by a Co-Create facilitated community input process, at the CommNS Spring 2019 event focused on “Where Mission Meets Advocacy”.   Since 2018, the Center for Community …

    August 16, 2021
  • Undergraduate students Christopher Hastings and Molly DeVore pick bush beans as volunteers from UW-Madison’s F.H. King Students for Sustainable Agriculture harvest fresh produce and vegetables from their farm plot at Eagle Heights Community Garden at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on Sept. 13, 2020. The students harvested more than 300 pounds of fresh produce, which they later distributed for free to nearly 100 people during a Harvest Handout outreach event held on East Campus Mall. F.H. King hosts the Harvest Hand out each Sunday from 12:30-1:30 p.m. (Photo by Jeff Miller / UW-Madison)

    Learn More About Organizational Structures Within the Mission-Based Food Production Movement

    The Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies (CommNS) Executive Director Mary Beth Collins and Co-Create Graduate Research Assistant Allison Hellenbrand recently collaborated on an article entitled “Choosing the Right Structure for Organizations Participating in the …

    July 28, 2021
  • a photo of Adrienne Theune

    Thank You to Our AmeriCorps VISTA Member!

    This past year the Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies (CommNS) has been fortunate to host AmeriCorps VISTA member Adrienne Theune as part of the Campus Compact AmeriCorps VISTA project. AmeriCorps VISTA members help local …

    July 12, 2021

  • Recording Available for CommUniversity Session: “Whether and How to Form a Nonprofit”

    The CommNS partnered with the UW-Madison Law School and Marquette Law School to offer an in-demand CommUniversity session this past April. The session was titled “Whether and How to Form a Nonprofit,” and presenters were: …

    June 14, 2021
  • Aerial view of downtown and the lakes

    CommNS Teams Present at Madison Nonprofit Day

    Members of the CommNS Team had a great time once again this year at Madison Nonprofit Day.  This event is always a great opportunity to connect and learn with others working in the sector, and …

    May 31, 2021

  • Congratulations, farewells and hellos at the CommNS

    The end of the academic year always brings the bittersweetness of bidding farewell — and saying thank you — to our student team members who are graduating. Congratulations to the following Master of Science in …

    May 21, 2021
  • Hands in a motion of explaining something with laptop screen open and facing the user.

    WisNRG Town Hall Informs Development of a Nonprofit Resource Inventory

    The Wisconsin Nonprofit Resources Group (WisNRG) is an effort by the CommNS and the Morgridge Center to connect Wisconsin nonprofit organizations to the resources they need. WisNRG participants convene regularly to share events and opportunities …

    April 27, 2021
  • Icon of two people standing side by side with speech bubbles above each of their heads..

    Get to Know the CommNS

    The CommNS Knowledge website has been undergoing some big changes over the past few months. The site is now the official online home of the Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies (the CommNS), a Center …

    March 24, 2021

  • Fall 2020

    The sixth CommNS Ties newsletter, with updates from the spring and summer of 2020. Download here

    November 6, 2020

  • New Study Shows the “COVID-19 Effect” on Wisconsin’s Nonprofit Sector

    The COVID-19 pandemic has had dramatic impacts on Wisconsin communities and nonprofit organizations. Nonprofits are often at the front lines of the COVID-19 response, given that the epidemic has caused a spike in community demand …

    July 29, 2020

  • “COVID-19 + Third Sector” Resources, Materials, Insights, Opportunities

    Friends and Colleagues: We are starting a collection of information and resources related to COVID-19 and the Third Sector.  Please check it out here.  We will be updating and adding to it regularly.  Anyone with …

    April 1, 2020

  • The Great “Reveal” of Critical Third Sector Questions in the COVID19 Era

    Mary Beth Collins, J.D. M.S., Executive Director of the UW-Madison Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies. Even at this relatively early moment in what I have come to think of as the “COVID19 Era”, it …

    March 27, 2020

  • Early Winter 2020

    The fifth CommNS Ties newsletter, with updates from the fall of 2020. Download here

    January 6, 2020

  • Late Summer 2019

    The fourth CommNS Ties newsletter, with updates from the spring and summer of 2019. Download here

    September 6, 2019

  • Early Summer 2019

    The third CommNS Ties newsletter, with updates from the spring of 2019. Download here

    July 6, 2019

  • Winter 2019

    The second CommNS Ties newsletter, with updates from the fall and winter of 2018. Download here

    February 6, 2019

  • Fall 2018

    The first CommNS Ties newsletter, with updates from the spring and summer of 2018. Download here

    December 6, 2018

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