PONPO exists to foster interdisciplinary research aimed at developing an understanding of nonprofit organizations and their role in economic and political life.

After more than 25 years of attention primarily to the domestic American scene, PONPO is now re-focusing its efforts on the study of international non-governmental organizations and the not-for-profit sector in developing countries.

With increasing globalization and the political shifts resulting from the end of the cold war, recent decades have seen a proliferation of both international aid agencies and "third sector" organizations within developing countries and nations experiencing political transition. These organizations are increasingly recognized as significant actors in the economic and political development of their nations. They play major - often dominant - roles in health care, environmental protection, economic development, human rights, democratic governance, and the fight against corruption. Despite their significance, the academic study of the role of these entities is in its early stages.

PONPO thus now turns its attention to international nongovernmental organizations and the not-for-profit sector in countries other than the United States.

Participating Yale faculty and visitors to PONPO will study foreign and international nongovernmental organizations from many different perspectives. They will look at the role not-for-profits play in the fields mentioned above and the managerial, financial and mission dilemmas they face. Scholars will also look at the birth, growth, and death of these entities under various conditions and at their interaction with national and local governments and the business community.

It is hoped that this activity will be carried out in cooperation with other academic centers in this country and abroad.