Nonprofit Organizations

In this book, the author takes an in-depth look at the way people collaborate to provide services for two specific groups: Puerto Ricans and families. By observing and participating within the organizations, Milburn discovered how conversations and written discourse were used to establish and sustain both the vibrancy of the organizations and individual's sense of what is means to be a member of a voluntary nonprofit. The author skillfully blends ethnography of communication, membership categorization analysis, and ethnomethodology to explore typical organizational issues (such as negotiation and change) that occur in common business contexts like meetings and special events. This study reveals how unpaid participants' communication shapes a nonprofit organization's ability to fulfill its mission and serve its members.