ERNOP Online Series 2024-2025
Weathering the Storm: How External Crisis and Changes Impact Nonprofit Organisations
February 11, 2025, 10-11am (CET)
Speakers: Marlene Walk (University of Freiburg)
Discussant: tba
About this seminar:
The world is changing rapidly, and global crises affect almost every aspect of life – personal, social and professional. For organisations, these external changes often require significant adaptation and internal transformation. This ERNOP Science and Society webinar will focus on how nonprofit organisations respond to crisis and changes in the organizational environment, and the subsequent impact on staff, organisational structures and processes.
In the first part of the webinar, Dr. Marlene Walk, from the University of Freiburg, will present her research on how change affects nonprofit organisations and their internal structures. Building on the case of a crisis that had a great impact on our lives – the covid pandemic – she will explore how crises influence employees’ attitudes and loyalty towards the organisation.
In the second part of the webinar, Marlene Walk will discuss the practical implications of her findings for nonprofit practitioners. Participants will gain insights into how crisis and change affect nonprofit organisations and practical guidance on how to manage organisational change and support staff in challenging times. The interactive Q&A session will give participants the opportunity to ask questions, share experiences and discuss how these insights can be applied in their own organisations.
Registration will open soon.
About Marlene Walk
Marlene Walk is an Assistant Professor of Nonprofit Management at the School of Economics and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Freiburg, Germany. Her research focuses on human resource management and organizational change within nonprofit organizations. Prior to her current role, Marlene was an Associate Professor at the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, Indianapolis.
About the Chair of Public and Nonprofit Management
Founded in 1995, the Center for Philanthropic Studies, part of the Department of Sociology at Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam, conducts research on all aspects of philanthropy, including charitable giving, foundation grants, blood donations, and volunteering. The Center’s members actively contribute to undergraduate and graduate education within the Faculty of Social Sciences and offer post-academic programs tailored to professionals in the Dutch philanthropic sector.