ABSTRACT
Echoing the rapid growth of the nonprofit and voluntary sector (NPVS) in the United States is a steadily increasing interest in the sector among public administrators and public administration scholars. These trends have taken place within and have been shaped by an explosion of information and communication technologies. Our understanding of all of these issues is informed by the communicative turn in social science and theory. Thus, any attempt to grapple with the complexities and changes of the NPVS necessitates a consideration of the relations between communication and nonprofit organizations (NPOs). This relationship is here explored by considering two intersecting issues: whether NPOs are conceived of as essentially similar to for-profit and governmental organizations, or as importantly distinct; and whether communication is thought of as a tool to be effectively managed and to aid effective management, or as constituting organizations. Scholarship on NPOs and communication can be grouped in four categories defined by the intersection of these binaries. Each of these perspectives highlights important concerns for anyone interested in understanding the present state of the NPVS.
