GOVERNMENT - NONPROFIT PARTNERSHIP FOR BETTER OR WORSE.doc

GOVERNMENT-NONPROFIT PARTNERSHIPS: FOR BETTER OR WORSE? Dr. Sunday Odezah, Professor of Public Administration University of the Virgin Islands Tel: 340-693-1283; E-Mail: sodezah@ ABSTRACT Nonprofits are increasingly becoming equal partners with government in providing society with essential services. By the late 1970s, the nonprofit sector had become the principal vehicle for the delivery of government-financed human services, and government had, correspondingly, become the principal source of nonprofit human service agency finance. However, the increasing reliance of nonprofits on public funds has given government an opportunity to delve into the management and oversight of nonprofits. Consequently, nonprofits are increasingly being held accountable for the results, outcomes, or impacts of government programs. Taking into account the mixed experiences with managing for results in the public sector, the paper argues that the government’s practice of holding nonprofits accountable for results is counterproductive. In pursuit of this argument, the paper poses the question: “What, if anything, would best govern the partnership between government and nonprofits so that the latter would have the freedom, autonomy, and discretion to provide more and better services to the public? Wisdom literature is used to address the question with a recommendation for a more equitable and effective accountability model, namely, “shared accountability” to replace the traditional, one-dimensional accountability model. Finally, recognizing that shared accountability is not self-executing, the paper recommends some critical next steps that must be taken to make it work better for the best interest of both parties – government and nonprofits – and other stakeholders. KEYWORDS: Government-Nonprofit Partnerships, Delivery of Public Services, Managing for Results, Wisdom Literature, and Shared Accountability.