Lehn Benjamin

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

Core Faculty, Academic Programs

Phone:

317-278-8906

Email:

benjamin@iu.edu

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Campus:

IU Indianapolis

Biography

Professor Benjamin examines the relationship between nonprofit organizations and the populations they serve with the goal of better understanding and theorizing these organizations and their social impact. Her scholarship illuminates the contours of this relationship, revealing how the basic conception of nonprofits as rational-technical organizations that deliver programs to improve outcomes for a target population not only misconstrues this relationship, but also limits our understanding of these organizations, their impact, and the individuals, families and communities they serve. Prior to joining the faculty at Indiana University, she served on the faculty at George Mason University, worked for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund at the U.S. Department of Treasury as well as worked with nonprofits focused on building thriving communities, advancing justice and addressing issues that that prevent human flourishing.

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 Evaluating Social Impact in the Philanthropic Sector
• PHST 602 Advanced Qualitative Methods
• PHST 665 Nonprofits and Philanthropy Theory
• PHST 725 Community Collaboration, Power, Politics and Philanthropy

Publications

Nonprofit Organization-Client/Community Relationship

• Benjamin, L.M. & Doan, D.R.H. Forthcoming. Can Nonprofit Organizations Address Inequality? Building Mutual Relations in Bureaucratic Organizations Chapter in Chen, K & Dean, J. (Eds) Connecting Charity, Power, and Care: A Critical Sociology Routledge.
• Benjamin, L. 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, L. M. (2021). Putting Participants at the Center of Managing and Leading Nonprofits. Stanford Social Innovation Review. https://doi.org/10.48558/1Q2M-FV81
• Benjamin, L. 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, 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 Social 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, 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

• Ebrahim, A. and Benjamin, L.M. (2024). The Many Faces of Nonprofit Accountability. Chapter 4 in Renz, D. Brown, W. & Andersson, F. (Eds.) the Jossey Handbook of Nonprofit Management & Leadership. Jossey Bass.
• 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, 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.