"How small groups promote social change"
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
April 10, 2007
By Anne W. Howard

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In a study of 16 organizations, Carol Chetkovich and Frances Kunreuther detail the goals, leadership, resources, and organizational structure characteristic of small, local social-change organizations.

NEW BOOKS
How Small Groups Promote Social Change
By Anne W. Howard

From the Ground Up: Grassroots Organizations Making Social Change
by Carol Chetkovich and Frances Kunreuther

In a study of 16 organizations, Carol Chetkovich and Frances Kunreuther detail the goals, leadership, resources, and organizational structure characteristic of small, local social-change organizations.

The authors define these groups as "nonprofit organizations that aim to address systemic problems in a way that will increase the power of marginalized groups, communities, or interests." Ms. Chetkovich, associate professor of public policy at Mills College, and Ms. Kunreuther, director of the Building Movement Project at Demos, contrast social-change groups with more service-oriented groups, which typically do not aim to make fundamental changes to the local, national, or global power structure, and do not involve their clients in their operations.