• Skip to Content
  • Skip to Main Navigation
  • Skip to Search

Indiana University Indianapolis Indiana University Indianapolis IU Indianapolis

Open Search
  • About
    • Mission, Vision, & Values
      • Strategic Plan
    • History
    • Board of Visitors
    • Employment
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Anti-racism Statement
  • Admissions
    • How to Apply
      • B.A. in Philanthropic Leadership
      • M.A. in Philanthropic Studies
      • Graduate Certificates
      • Ph.D. in Philanthropic Studies
      • PhilD, Professional Doctorate in Philanthropic Leadership
    • Financial Aid & Scholarships
      • Pitch Your Passion Competition
      • B.A. Scholarships
      • M.A. Scholarships
      • Doctoral Fellowships & Grants
      • AmeriCorps
      • Professional Doctorate Funding
    • Explore Career Options
    • Visit Us
  • Academics
    • Degrees & Programs
      • B.A. in Philanthropic Leadership
        • Bachelor of Arts Alumni
        • Capstone ePortfolio Showcase
          • 2023 ePortfolios
          • 2022 ePortfolios
        • Honors Program
      • M.A. in Philanthropic Studies
      • Accelerated B.A./M.A. Program
      • Certificates & Minors
        • Undergraduate Certificates
        • Undergraduate Minor
        • Graduate Certificates
        • Doctoral Minor
      • Dual Degree Programs
      • Ph.D. in Philanthropic Studies
        • Ph.D. Students
        • Dissertations
      • PhilD, Professional Doctorate in Philanthropic Leadership
        • Courses
        • Faculty
        • Cohort Schedule
    • Core Faculty
    • Experiential Learning
      • Internships
      • Study Abroad
      • Study Away Course
    • Career Services
      • The Patterson Foundation Fellowship
  • The Fund Raising School
    • Courses & Seminars
      • Schedule
      • Course Locations
      • How to Register
      • Our Faculty
    • Customized Training
    • Certificates
      • Fundraising Management
      • Fundraising Leadership
      • Nonprofit Executive Leadership
      • Digital Fund Raising
      • Planned Giving
      • Data for Good
      • Accreditation
    • Webinars
    • Scholarships
      • Dottie Rosso Scholarship
      • Hank Rosso Scholarship
    • First Day Podcast
      • Listen with the App
    • Advancing Indiana’s Nonprofit Sector
    • Blog
  • Research
    • Latest Research
    • Research by Topic
    • Ongoing Research
    • Partnerships
    • Philanthropic Studies Library
    • Research Funding
  • Institutes
    • Lake Institute on Faith & Giving
      • Insights Newsletter
    • Mays Family Institute on Diverse Philanthropy
      • Black Philanthropy Month
    • Muslim Philanthropy Initiative
      • Programs and Publications
        • Community Collaboration Initiative
        • Muslim Collaboration Prizes
      • Council of Advisors
      • Fellowships & Awards
        • Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
        • Zakat Foundation Institute Fellowship
      • Research & Symposiums
        • Symposiums
      • Staff
    • Women’s Philanthropy Institute
      • About
        • WPI history
      • Council
      • Research
        • Newest Report
          • Newest Report
        • Research Highlights
    • Higher Education and Philanthropy Initiative
  • Alumni & Giving
    • Get Involved
      • Alumni Board
        • Join the Board
      • Contact
      • Distinguished Alumni Award
      • Share Your Success
      • Alumni Board
    • Ways to Give
      • Areas to Support
      • Donor Bill of Rights
  • News & Events
    • News & Media
      • Philanthropy in Action
      • Diving Deeper
      • Newsletters
        • Philanthropy Matters
      • First Day Podcast
      • Blog
    • Events
      • Philanthropy Research Workshop Series
        • Schedule
      • Perspectives on Philanthropy Discussion Series
  • People Directory
  • Contact Us

Lilly Family School of Philanthropy

  • Home
  • About
    • Mission, Vision, & Values
    • History
    • Board of Visitors
    • Employment
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • Admissions
    • How to Apply
    • Financial Aid & Scholarships
    • Explore Career Options
    • Visit Us
  • Academics
    • Degrees & Programs
    • Core Faculty
    • Experiential Learning
    • Career Services
  • The Fund Raising School
    • Courses & Seminars
    • Customized Training
    • Certificates
    • Webinars
    • Scholarships
    • First Day Podcast
    • Advancing Indiana’s Nonprofit Sector
    • Blog
  • Research
    • Latest Research
    • Research by Topic
    • Ongoing Research
    • Partnerships
    • Philanthropic Studies Library
    • Research Funding
  • Institutes
    • Lake Institute on Faith & Giving
    • Mays Family Institute on Diverse Philanthropy
    • Muslim Philanthropy Initiative
    • Women’s Philanthropy Institute
    • Higher Education and Philanthropy Initiative
  • Alumni & Giving
    • Get Involved
    • Ways to Give
  • News & Events
    • News & Media
    • Events
  • Search
  • People Directory
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • People Directory
  • Lehn Benjamin

Lehn Benjamin

Lehn Benjamin

Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Affiliate Faculty, Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs


Faculty, Academic Programs
Phone:
317-278-8906
Email:
benjamin@iu.edu
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Faculty, Academic Programs
Campus:
IU Indianapolis
University Hall, Suite 3000
301 University Boulevard
Indianapolis, IN 46202

Biography

I have spent the past 25 years working to address issues of inequity. I worked in South Africa during the democratic transition, on the Senate Banking Housing and Urban Affairs Committee as a Congressional Fellow, and for the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. Prior to joining the faculty at the school, I spent 10 years on the faculty at George Mason University where I taught courses on nonprofit management, public management, and evaluation.

I am broadly interested in how practices, programs, and policies address and/or further exacerbate inequity and why. Most of my work examines these issues in nonprofit organizations where I pursue questions about impact and accountability. For example, I have examined how performance and accountability requirements of funders shape the work of nonprofits: Do these requirements spur nonprofits to better respond to the needs and experiences of people they serve? Or do these requirements constrain such work?

My recent research takes a closer look at daily work of frontline staff and the experience of the people that seek services from nonprofits to develop a fuller picture of nonprofit impact than is typically captured in program evaluation models. Here I am interested in how participating in these nonprofits affects the health and political efficacy of citizen-clients. Although most of my current research focuses on human service organizations, as an urban planner who has worked in both governmental and grassroots organizations as well as at a policy level, I am also interested in broader community development and governance questions.

Education

  • Ph.D., Cornell University; City and Regional Planning
  • M.R.P., Cornell University, City and Regional Planning
  • B.A., University of Minnesota, Summa Cum Laude, Speech Communication

Courses Taught

  • PHST 521 Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector
  • PHST 530 Politics of Helping
  • PHST 530 The Equity and Effectiveness of Philanthropy
  • PHST 602 Qualitative Methods
  • PHST 665 Nonprofits and Philanthropy
  • PHST 725 Community Collaboration, Power, Politics and Philanthropy

Publications

Client-Citizens in Nonprofit Organizations

  • Benjamin, Lehn M. 2022. Status Processes in Nonprofit Organizations: The Consequences for Inequality. RSF: Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences. Special Issue on Status and Inequality. 8(7): 210-227. 
  • Benjamin, Lehn M. (2021). Bringing Beneficiaries More Centrally into Nonprofit Management Research and Education. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 50(1): 5-26.
  • Benjamin, L. M. (2018). Client authority in nonprofit human service organizations. In Handbook of community movements and local organizations in the 21st century (pp. 141–154). Springer.
  • Benjamin, L. M., & Brudney, J. L. (2018). What do voluntary sector studies offer research on co-production? In T. Brandsen, B. Verschuere, & T. Steen (Eds.), Co-production and co-creation (pp. 49–60). Routledge.
  • Karriem, A., & Benjamin, L. M. (2016). How civil society organizations foster insurgent citizenship: Lessons from the Brazilian landless movement. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 27(1), 19–36.
    *Best Article, 2018, International Society for Third Sector Research
  • Benjamin, L., Rubin, J. S., & Zielenbach, S. (2004). Community development financial institutions: Current issues and future prospects. Journal of Urban Affairs, 26(2), 177–195.

Evaluation and Impact

  • Benjamin, L. M., Ebrahim, A., & Gugerty, M. K. (2023). Nonprofit Organizations and the Evaluation of Social Impact: A Research Program to Advance Theory and Practice. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 52(1_suppl), 313S-352S.
  • Benjamin, L. M. (2021). Beyond Programs: Toward a Fuller Picture of Beneficiaries in Nonprofit Evaluation. Chapter 6 in P. Dahler-Larsen (Ed.), A research agenda for evaluation: Inspirational themes. Edward Elgar.
  • Benjamin, L. M., & Campbell, D. A. (2020). Evaluation and performance measurement. In H. K. Anheier & S. Toepler (Eds.), Routledge companion to nonprofit management. Routledge.​
  • Benjamin, L. M., & Campbell, D. C. (2015). Nonprofit performance: Accounting for the agency of clients. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 44(5), 988–1006.
    *Best article, 2016, Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action
  • Benjamin, L. M. (2012). Nonprofit organizations and outcome measurement: From tracking program activities to focusing on frontline work. American Journal of Evaluation, 33(3), 431–447.

Accountability and Governance

  • Benjamin, L. M., & Posner, P. L. (2018). Tax Expenditures and Accountability: The case of the ambivalent principals. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 28(4), 569–582.
  • Benjamin, L. M., Voida, A., & Bopp, C. (2018). Policy fields, data systems, and the performance of nonprofit human service organizations. Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance, 42(2), 185–204.
  • Benjamin, L. M. (2008). Account space: How accountability requirements shape nonprofit practice. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 37(2), 201–223.
    *Best Article, 2009, Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action
  • Benjamin, L. M. (2008). Bearing more risk for results: Performance accountability and nonprofit relational work. Administration & Society, 39(8), 959–983.

Lilly Family School of Philanthropy social media channels

  • Faculty & Staff
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
  • LinkedIn

Indiana University

Accessibility | College Scorecard | Privacy Notice | Copyright © 2025 The Trustees of Indiana University