NeighborWorks Reports and Studies

Carolyn C. Leung, Fellowship Program for Emerging Leaders in Community and Economic Development. The paper explores the role of resident participation and its interaction with other factors community reviatlization and building, and how public policy can help low-income populations to make a difference in their communities. The paper details conditions necessary for success and assesses their effectiveness. (October 2005)

Demonstrating Our Values, Impact and Effectiveness: Final Report of the NeighborWorks Community Organizing Pilot Program [PDF, 2.41 MB]

The NeighborWorks Community Building & Organizing Initiative presents three years of research among 18 NeighborWorks organizations on the impact of community organizing as a community development and revitalization strategy. To order a printed copy, contact Lindsay Wells at lwells@nw.org. (September 2005, 28 pages)

Community Organizing in NeighborWorks Organizations [PDF, 3.08 MB]

A Report on the Community Organizing Pilot Program. A three-year study of 18 NeighborWorks organizations across the country that established a disciplined process to track their community organizing efforts. (2001-2004)

Foreclosure Solutions

Financial Institutions and Foreclosure Intervention: Innovative Partnerships and and Strategies to Better Serve Borrowers in Default [PDF, 263 KB]

NeighborWorks America provides several examples of leading financial institutions employing innovative strategies to help prevent borrowers in distress from becoming yet another foreclosure statistic. The report draws upon existing programs to develop a number of common themes, as well as suggestions for areas of future innovation. (November 2007)

Sustainable Homeownership: Market and Policy Implications for Communities [PDF, 434 KB]

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), in partnership with NeighborWorks
America, conducted a series of focus groups to gather information from Latino-serving
institutions nationwide about best practices to prevent Latino foreclosure. The principal objective of this project was to identify the causes of foreclosure among Latinos and to present potential proactive solutions to the problem. Special emphasis was placed on identifying specific lending products and underwriting guidelines that best meet the needs of Latino borrowers. (October 2007)

Preserving Homeownership: Analyzing the Elements of Leading Foreclosure Prevention Programs [PDF, 901KB] (May 2007) NeighborWorks Center for Foreclosure Solutions.

Mortgage Foreclosures in Atlanta: Patterns and Policy Issues [PDF, 1.7 MB]

Authors Mark Duda and William Apgar examine mortgage failures in metropolitan Atlanta, expanding on their previous research on foreclosure avoidance in Chicago and Los Angeles.

Freddie Mac, Roper Survey Asks Why More Delinquent Borrowers Don't Call Lenders for Help [PDF, 21 KB]

Effective Community-Based Strategies for Preventing Foreclosures [PDF, 271 KB]

This report, authored by Lindley Higgins of NeighborWorks America, describes the foreclosure process, including mortgage default and the process for loan workouts; reviews of the research on the various factors that lead to default and foreclosure; examines the rise of the subprime market and its relation to foreclosures; describes community-based responses to foreclosures; and presents case studies of foreclosures and foreclosure-prevention programs in Chicago and New York City. (September 2005, 41 pages)

Collateral Damage: The Municipal Impact of Today's Mortgage Foreclosure Boom [PDF, 245 KB] by William C. Apgar and Mark Duda. (May 2005)

Dreams Foreclosed: The Rampant Theft of Americans' Homes Through Equity-Stripping Foreclosure 'Rescue' Scams [PDF, 3.7 MB]

The Municipal Cost of Foreclosure: A Chicago Case Study [PDF, 590 KB]

This report was published by the Homeownership Preservation Foundation and authored by William C. Apgar, Harvard University, Joint Center for Housing Studies; with consultants Mark Duda and Rochelle Nawrocki Gorey. (February 2005)

Preserving Homeownership Community-Development Implications of the New Mortgage Market [PDF, 477 KB]

A Report prepared by Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of Chicago and funded by NeighborWorks America. This report examines new ways that community-based organizations — working cooperatively with private industry and federal, state, and local governments — can develop new national-scale foreclosure prevention initiatives. In addition, the report provides background on foreclosures and problems in loan origination, as well as recommendations for policymakers and community development organizations.

Homeownership and Mortgage Financing

The Use of Social Capital in Borrower Decision-Making [PDF, 300 KB]

by Cassi L. Pittman, Fellowship Program for Emerging Leaders in Community and Economic Development. Published by NeighborWorks America and Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. (February 2008, 40 pages)

Affordability and the Funding Gap [PDF, 357 KB]

by Mark Duda and Doug Foster. Trends Among Low- and Moderate- Income Households 1995–2005. (January 2007, 48 pages)

Home Value Protection: Final Report [PDF, 183 KB]

by NeighborWorks America and Home HeadQuarters, Inc. An overview of a Home Value Protection (HVP) product and an evaluation of the practicality of making such a program more widely available. Background is provided for anyone considering such a plan. (December 2005, 36 pages)

Changes in Bankruptcy Laws: Implications for Homebuyer Programs [PDF, 163 KB]
NeighborWorks Campaign for Home Ownership This issue brief describes changes to bankruptcy laws made effective in 2005, including an overview of the bankruptcy process under Chapter 7, 11 and 13; an overview of recent changes in the law; the potential implications of the law for community-based homeownership counseling organizations; and the role of credit counseling services required by the bankruptcy laws. (September 2005, 5 pages)

Measuring the Delivery Costs of Prepurchase Homeownership Education and
Counseling [PDF, 208 KB]

NeighborWorks Campaign for Home Ownership. Using information from NeighborWorks organizations that offer homeownership education and counseling programs, this paper estimates the total costs of delivering homeownership education and counseling and discusses proven and implied benefits to stakeholders. (May 2005, 32 pages)

Sustaining Homeownership Through Education and Counseling [PDF, 465 KB]

Mark Wiranowski, Fellowship Program for Emerging Leaders in Community and Economic Development, Harvard University. The paper presents a conceptual framework for the effect of postpurchase education and counseling in assisting homeowners, as well as analyzing the effectiveness of postpurchase education and counseling and information needs and strategies that can drive the provision of postpurchase counseling. It recommends postpurchase information and counseling that is integrated into the lending models of the financial services industry. (October 2003)

Individual and Neighborhood Impacts of Neighborhood Reinvestment's Homeownership Pilot Program [PDF, 392 KB]

William M. Rohe, Roberto G. Quercia, Shannon Van Zandt, Gretchen Kosarko. This report, by the University of North Carolina's Center for Urban and Regional Studies, examines the financial and personal impact of homeownership on a sample of graduates of home-ownership classes taught by eight NeighborWorks organizations.

Homebuyer Education and Counseling: A Start-Up Guide [PDF, 548 KB]

This guide combines material from various sources in order to provide the best summary of homebuyer education programs. The enclosed samples range from job descriptions for home ownership counselors to Homebuyers Club schedules. (1999, 29 pages)

Mind the Gap – Issues in Overcoming the Information, Income, Wealth, and Supply Gaps Facing Potential Buyers of Affordable Homes [PDF, 324 KB]

J. Michael Collins and Doug Dylla (2001, 23 pages)

Pursuing the American Dream: Homeownership and the Role of Federal
Housing Policy [PDF, 485 KB]

By Michael Collins. An overview of U.S. housing policies related to homeownership, an analysis of the barriers to homeownership, and background on federal policies, programs, and regulations that could be refined to better support homeownership. (2002, 61 pages)

Supporting the American Dream of Homeownership: An Assessment of Neighborhood Reinvestment's Home Ownership Pilot Program [MS Word, 293 KB]

William M. Rohe, Roberto G. Quercia and Shannon Van Zandt (2002, 56 pages)

Using HUD's MTCS Data to Assess the Depth of Market for the Section 8 Homeownership Program (2002)

Since 1999, Neighborhood Reinvestment has been working with NeighborWorks organizations to develop and implement models for using HUD's Section 8 voucher program to assist low-income families into home ownership. In this report, Abt Associates provides an analysis of the potential depth of market for the Section 8 Home Ownership Program based on HUD's Multi-family Tenant Characteristics System (MTCS) data.

Winning Strategies: Best Practices in Home-Ownership Promotion [PDF, 1.99 MB]

These 148 short case studies document best practices of the member organizations of the NeighborWorks Campaign for Home Ownership 2002, a national initiative of Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. (2001, 362 pages)

The Many Benefits of Homeownership
This popular article from the NeighborWorks Campaign for HomeOwnership reports on research confirming that homeownership is good for families, neighborhoods and the economy. Print copy available. | view summary. |

Insurance & Loss Prevention

Part of the Solution: Leveraging Business and Markets for Low-Income People [PDF, 2 MB]

This Ford Foundation report presents lessons learned from its Corporate Involvement (CI) Initiative, an effort that sought to demonstrate that businesses could use core operating resources and competencies in ways that contribute to large-scale improvement in income and assets for low-income people, while benefiting business. The report includes outcomes of the NeighborWorks Insurance Alliance’s Loss Prevention Partnership program to develop the National Home Safety Partnership to increase home safety and reduce insurance losses.

How Insurers Benefit from the Housing Rehabilitation Efforts of NeighborWorks Organizations [PDF, 2.39 MB]

Insurance companies have a vested interest in communities and homes that are safe and secure. Through their successful but underutilized housing rehabilitation expertise,
NeighborWorks organizations seek to improve the quality of older, unsafe and/or vacant and abandoned properties in the communities.
they serve. (2005, 25 pages)

An Assessment of NIA's (NITF) Insurance Education [PDF, 140 KB]

Through resident focus groups and community development practitioner surveys, the NITF (now NeighborWorks Insurance Alliance) was able to assess the overall impact its Certified Insurance Counseling Training Program is having in the community development field as a whole, and within local communities. This report details the significance of insurance education programs and the role they play in improving the quality of life for low-income residents. (2002)

Credit and Homeowners Insurance: NIA's Experience from an Insurer-Community Partnership Perspective [PDF, 374 KB]

Credit is increasingly a financial fact of life. It is also a topic that has been included in a variety of financial programs that partner with the NIA. The purpose of this report is to capture the experience of NIA and to provide information and resources aimed at fostering additional understanding of this issue. This report is the first formal response of NIA regarding insurance scoring. (2002)

NIA Loss Prevention Demonstration Project Mid-Program Report

Prepared by the NeighborWorks Insurance Alliance, this publication provides a detailed summary of the challenges, successes, and best practices of implementing an insurance loss prevention program. Each chapter depicts the experiences from one of the six loss prevention pilot programs and under what circumstances these community-based organizations have been able to sustain, and in some cases disband their loss prevention efforts. (2002, 52 pages)

NITF (NIA) National Report, 2000

This annual report captures the meetings and workshops and the 2001 agenda as convened by the National Insurance Task Force (now NIA) in Tampa, Florida.The meetings were held October 16-20, 2000.

NITF (NIA) National Report, 2001

This annual report outlines the activities and accomplishments of the National Insurance Task Force (now NIA).

Pathways to Partnership II, Loss Prevention Partnerships - Improving Home Safety Across America

Prepared by the NeighborWorks Insurance Alliance (NIA), this is the first of a three-part guide that will provide an overview of the various stages of the Loss Prevention Partnerships program. The guide introduces the first stages of the NIA's Loss Prevention Partnerships (LPP) program. The LPP program is based on research conducted in 1997 by the Insurance Research Council that identified the major causes of homeowners' insurance losses in eight American cities. (2000, 58 pages) | Print

Pathways to Partnership, Sharing the Journey to Neighborhood Change

Prepared by the NeighborWorks Insurance Alliance, this is a comprehensive how-to guide for community-based organizations and insurance companies to use in forming partnerships. The guide contains collective wisdom of 20 years of experience in how to initiate and grow insurance company partnerships in neighborhoods. (1995, 70 pages)

Manufactured Housing

Innovations in Manufactured Housing Six Case Studies in Affordable Manufactured Housing Development [PDF, 775 KB] by Allegra Calder, February 2006.
In 2004, NeighborWorks® America selected six organizations around the country to participate in the first Manufactured Housing Design Innovation Pilot Program. The goal of the pilot program was to support development using manufactured or modular housing to demonstrate that both housing types can be part of a viable affordable housing strategy. This report presents the following case studies in an effort to inform interested organizations and individuals about the project specifics, as well as the challenges and lessons learned.

Multifamily Housing

2006

Seven Strategies for Successfully Marketing and Stabilizing the Occupancy of Mixed-Income/Mixed-Race Properties - Summary Report [PDF, 1 MB] Frances Ferguson, former director of National Real Estate Programs. Study conducted by Abt Associates and Viva Consulting.

A NeighborWorks America study of successful management and marketing practices for properties serving mixed- to low-income families, while maintaining a positive cashflow in operation of the properties. The report is based upon the following eight case studies of mixed-income developments, and describes seven strategies used in these properties to stabilize and maintain high occupancy rates with healthy operating budgets and profitability, extracting the common management, marketing and occupancy strategies among them.

Eight Case Studies:

Resident Success in Economically Integrated, Socially Diverse Housing. Community Builders, Inc, January 2006. With support from the Ford Foundation’s Mixed-Income/ Mixed-Race (MI/MR) Housing Initiative, The Community Builders, Inc. has prepared a practitioner’s guide to describe effective practices in developing mixed-income, mixed-race housing, shares program tools and guidance, and highlights efforts under way to advance the field. View guide [PDF, 2.73 MB].

2005

The Case for Rental Housing – A Nonprofit Perspective [PDF, 365 KB]

Written by Liza Khan, Fellowship Program for Emerging Leaders in Community and Economic Development, Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. The paper identifies internal and external drivers that shape the decisions of nonprofit organizations in entering the business environment of affordable rental housing creation and preservation. (October, 2005)

MFI at Work: The NeighborWorks Multifamily Initiative at Five Years
[PDF, 2.44 MB]

Feedback from eight member organizations interviewed for this five-year report confirms the Multifamily Initiative is helping its members meet their missions, improve the lives of their residents, and grow as viable long-term owners of affordable housing. The overview of the initiative and the stories that follow demonstrate the accomplishments of the Initiative’s member organizations over the last five years.

Funding Strategies for Sustainable Resident Services [PDF, 227 KB]

A summary of NeighborWorks Learning Center Consortium member approaches to structuring costs and revenues.

Real Investments, Real Results

Published in conjunction with the symposium “Resident Services: Linking Affordable
Housing and Opportunities for Families” Washington, D.C., (March 2005) | Print copy

2004

Assessing Property Management for Affordable Housing [PDF, 257 KB]

Marc Diaz, Fellowship Program for Emerging Leaders in Community and Economic Development. The report compares self-management and third-party property management of nonprofit-owned, affordable multifamily rental housing.

Changing Minds, Building Communities: Advancing Affordable Housing through Communications Campaigns [PDF, 3.79 MB] (May 2004)

America's Working Communities and the Impact of Multifamily Housing

Alexander von Hoffman, Eric Belsky, James DeNormandie, and Rachel Bratt;
Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University and Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation.

Report from The Mixed-Income Demonstration Program: Reaching extremely low-income families in mixed-income settings [PDF, 472 KB]
(February 2004)

2003

The Vitality of America's Working Neighborhoods: Meeting the Local Challenges to Multifamily Housing [PDF, 240 KB]

NeighborWorks Training Institute, April 24, 2003, Chicago.

Learning Center Consortium 2003 Report [PDF, 638 KB]

The NeighborWorks Multifamily Initiative is hosting a Learning Centers Outcomes project in collaboration with some of HUD's Neighborhood Networks programs. One objective is to build the personal assets of families served by learning centers (such as youth academic success, employment, savings, home preparation and purchase).

2002

Best Practices for Small and Rural New England Property Management Firms [PDF, 283 KB]

Prepared by NeighborWorks® America by Judy Weber, CPM®, J. Weber Consulting and Laurie Gould, Gould Consulting, (2002)

Mixed-Income Housing Developments: Promise and Reality [PDF, 1.97 MB]

By Alastair Smith. An examination of the rationale for mixed-income approaches to affordable housing development, as well as the record of such developments in meeting their objectives, from the perspective of housing developers and those responsible for designing housing programs and policies. (2002, 56 pages)

Mixed-Income Housing's Greatest Challenge: Strengthening America's Neighborhoods While Reaching Our Lowest Income Families [PDF, 473 KB]

NeighborWorks Training Institute April 4, 2002, Chicago. Hosted by the NeighborWorks Multifamily Initiative.

Early Conclusions from The Mixed-Income Demonstration Program: Reaching Extremely Low-Income Families in Mixed-Income Settings [PDF, 483 KB]

Highlights of 17 grant applications for a special $5 million, mixed-income demonstration program that explored approaches for serving households with incomes less than 30 percent of the area median (“extremely low income” or “ELI” households) in mixed-income communities. Also included are working conclusions from experience to date with the mixed-income demonstration program.

2001

Strengthening Neighborhoods by Creating Long-Term Multifamily Assets
[PDF, 1.86 MB]

Edited proceedings of the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation Symposium, NeighborWorks Training Institute, April 18, 2001, Chicago. Hosted by the NeighborWorks Multifamily Initiative.

1999

Expiring Affordability of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Properties: The Next Era in Preservation [PDF, 154 KB]

Extensive research published by Neighborhood Reinvestment and the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (1999, 44 pages)

Organizational Development

2007

Demystifying Outcome Measurement in Community Development [PDF, 2 MB] By Renu Madan, Fellowship Program for Emerging Leaders, NeighborWorks America and Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University (May 2007, 66 pages)

2002

Bridging the Organizational Divide - The Making of a Nonprofit Merger [PDF, 257 KB] John Emmeus Davis (2002, 48 pages)

1998

Managing Executive Transitions [PDF, 287 KB]

A handbook for nonprofits going through or anticipating executive transitions. (1998)

Personal Finance and Asset Creation and Protection

2007

Annotated Bibliography for Financial Fitness Education [PDF, 462 KB]

Lists general resources and start-up guides for financial literacy, key organizations and their Web sites, programs of the Cooperative Extension Services, and books and periodicals. Separate listings for home-ownership education, micro-enterprise development and job training and education. ( 2007, 99 pages)

Financial Fitness Education for Potential Homebuyers: A Start-Up Guide for NeighborWorks Organizations [PDF, 690 KB]

A guide to training homebuyers in basic money management, budgeting and financial literacy. Covers program planning, development, implementation and evaluation; cites selected best practices; and provides a series of sample aids and resources. (1999,
27 pages)

Predatory Lending Solutions

1999

Exposing Predatory Lending – Special Issue of NeighborWorks Journal
[PDF, 163 KB]

This is a reprint of this article as it appeared in the NeighborWorks Journal, Volume 17, No. 2 (Winter/Spring 1999)

Practitioners Guide to Predatory Lending

This publication by NeighborWorks America and LISC provides an overview of predatory lending and examples of prevention and intervention tools organizations are using against predatory lending practices. It also provides lessons learned and a series of case studies.

Understanding Predatory Lending: Moving Toward a Common Definition and Workable Solutions [PDF, 163 KB]

A research paper from Neighborhood Reinvestment and the Joint Center for Housing Studies, Harvard University, that examines a range of abuses that are considered predatory lending. Author Deborah Goldstein proposes three potential regulatory and legislative solutions that may address the issue. (1999, 41 pages)

Regional Issues and Reports

2000

A Changed Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation Intervention Strategy for Puerto Rico—Concept Paper [PDF, 50.7 KB]

This paper presents an analysis of the community development field and of NeighborWorks organizations in Puerto Rico as a conceptual framework for developing a changed intervention strategy by Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation. By Túbal Padilla Galiano, management consultant. (2000, 10 pages)

Community Development Corporations and Smart Growth: Putting Policy
into Practice [MS Word, 445 KB]

This research paper explores the underlying, complementary relationships between neighborhood-focused community-based development organizations and regionally focused Smart Growth advocates. The paper was written as part of Neighborhood Reinvestment's Fellowship Program for Emerging Leaders in Community and Economic Development. ( 2000, 54 pages)

The Syracuse Neighborhood Initiative Housing Market Study [PDF, 3.74 MB]

A market study to help identify the challenges and opportunities that distressed neighborhoods face in today's housing market. By Eileen Flanagan and Eric Hangen (2000, 85 pages)

Rural Housing and Development

2007

Reframing the Work of Rural Community Development: Case Studies in Innovative Rural Business Strategies [PDF, 860 KB]

Principles and Best Practices from Practitioners within the NeighborWorks Rural Initiative (2007, 43 pages)

2004

The New Rural America: Local Opportunities, Regional Strategies, National Impact [PDF, 718 KB]

A report from a national symposium of community leaders, development practitioners and policymakers committed to improving the quality of life in rural America. (2004, 32 pages)

2003

Lift Up Your Voice: Community-Based Organizations Shaping the Future of American Rural Policy [PDF, 2.28 MB]

The report explores the challenges of rural development and the ways in which practitioners, in particular, might address these challenges through strategic policy development and implementation. (2003, 15 pages)

The New Rural America: Old Myths, New Realities [PDF, 1.89 MB]

A series of articles from Fall 2003 NeighborWorks Bright Ideas including articles from Comptroller of the Currency, John D. Hawke, Jr. and Kendall McDaniel, an economist
with the Center for the Study of Rural America, a unit of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Social and Comprehensive Development

2005

Managing Neighborhood Change: Best Practices for Communities Undergoing Gentrification [PDF, 792 KB]

This report, commissioned by NeighborWorks America, in partnership with the Atlanta Alliance for Community Development Investment, explores the impact of gentrification on the residents, CBOs and CDCs of three Atlanta neighborhoods in varying stages of gentrification, and their capacity to manage this change. Additionally, in order to understand factors at play in gentrified communities that have experienced a high level of success in managing change, the research was supplemented with information from two neighborhoods outside Atlanta, the Shaw community in Washington, D.C., and Jamaica Plain in Boston.

2004

Community Organizing in NeighborWorks Organizations [PDF, 3.08 MB]

A report on the Community Organizing Pilot Program (2001-2004) of the NeighborWorks Resident Leadership Initiative. (2004, 24 pages)

Review of Neighborhood Revitalization Initiatives [PDF, 210 KB]

A report by ABT Associates for Neighborhood Reinvestment.

2003

Community Development in Dynamic Neighborhoods: Synchronizing Services and Strategies with Immigrant Communities [PDF, 156 KB]

By Catherine Fernandez (2003, 41 pages)

Special Housing Needs

2002

Aging in Place—Solutions to a Crisis in Housing and Care — An Issues Update [PDF, 650 KB]

The issue of how people can age in place in a safe, healthy and dignified manner is a front-burner issue, especially for the poor, frail elderly who live in communities served by the NeighborWorks network and by other community-based housing and health-care entities. The Southern District office of Neighborhood Reinvestment convened practitioners in the fields of housing, healthcare and supportive services to address this issue. (2002)

2001

An Examination of Manufactured Housing as a Community- and Asset-Building Strategy [PDF, 1.25 MB]

William Apgar, Allegra Calder, Mark Duda, Joint Center for Housing Studies; Michael Collins, Neighborhood Reinvestment Corp. (2002, 65 pages)

Aging in Place—Coordinating Housing and Health Care Provision for America's Growing Elderly Population [PDF, 570 KB]

This paper examines opportunities on the federal, state and local level to re-imagine a health and housing system that reflects the interrelationship between the health and housing concerns of seniors, facilitating rather than inhibiting the coordination necessary to meet the growing demand. By Kathryn Lawler (2001, 64 pages)

Employer-Assisted Housing: Competitiveness Through Partnership
[MS Word, 443 KB]

With a long history in the United States and elsewhere, employer-assisted housing can be a cost-effective, corporate business strategy. This heavily researched paper examines how partnerships between employers and community-based development organizations can implement such a strategy effectively. The paper was written as part of Neighborhood Reinvestment's Fellowship Program for Emerging Leaders in Community and Economic Development. (2000, 75 pages)

Strategic Partnerships

Bridging Sectors: Partnerships Between Nonprofits and Private Developers
[PDF, 283 KB]

Through a review of current literature and interviews with housing thought leaders, nonprofits, private developers, affordable housing capital sources and others, this paper explores multifamily rental housing development partnerships.

Credit Union Partnerships with NeighborWorks Organizations: Proven Models for Success [PDF, 253 KB]

By Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, NeighborWorks Campaign for Home Ownership, and National Credit Union Administration. (2003, 30 pages)

Employer-Assisted Housing: Competitiveness Through Partnership
[MS Word, 443 KB]

Entrepreneurial Community Development—Exploring Earned Income Activities and Strategic Alliances for Community Development Nonprofits [PDF, 728 KB]

By Ellen Stiefvater. This paper examines social entrepreneurship from a community-development perspective. Key findings are presented regarding both earned-income activities and strategic alliances as options for these organizations, as well as 10 key issues that arose as factors that impact their successful implementation. (2001,
56 pages)

Neighborhood Tours: A Passport to Partnership

Is it worth the effort to put on a neighborhood tour? This specific, hands-on guide says yes. It assists you with planning the entire event, from making strategic decisions about your tour's goals to evaluating it afterward. Case studies of several NeighborWorks organizations add to the value of this guide.

Pathways to Partnership, Sharing the Journey to Neighborhood Change

Prepared by the National Insurance Task Force, this is a comprehensive how-to guide for community-based organizations and insurance companies to use in forming partnerships. The guide uses collective wisdom of 20 years of experience in how to initiate and grow insurance company partnerships in neighborhoods. (1995, 70 pages)

Strengthening Bonds: Partnerships Between NeighborWorks Organizations and State Housing Finance Agencies [PDF, 325 KB]

This paper highlights a variety of ways that NeighborWorks organizations and state housing finance agencies (HFAs) are partnering to provide financial and technical assistance to affordable housing efforts. (2001, 35 pages)

Using Public Schools as Community-Development Tools: Strategies for Community-Based Developers [PDF, 999 KB]

The paper examines ways in which community-based developers can learn from and contribute to current community-based efforts, particularly in disinvested urban areas, to reinforce the link between public schools and neighborhoods. The paper also considers the policy implications of including public schools in comprehensive development strategies. By Connie Chung. (2002, 55 pages)

Winning Strategies: Partnerships with Realtors [PDF, 359 KB]

Five case studies show successful partnerships with Realtors that benefit all parties. These range from bonus programs for Realtors selling NHS-owned properties to linking homebuyer education programs to successful sales for Realtors. An introduction describes key reasons why these partnerships are valuable. (1999, 25 pages)