About the IS Spring Research Forum

About the Spring Research Forum
INDEPENDENT SECTOR's Spring Research Forum has a 17-year tradition of stimulating new research agendas and bringing the best and brightest researchers from the United States and abroad together with practitioners to consider the latest research on the most current issues facing the nonprofit sector. At the 2001 Spring Research Forum, informed debates and dialogues focused on the impact of information technology on civil society, considering the questions:

• Will information technology advances expand and enhance volunteerism, philanthropy, and collaborative learning?
• Will information technology change how communities develop and residents relate to each other?
• How will nonprofit organizations look in the future and will their activities change because of new information technology?
• Will the legal and fiscal frameworks that nonprofits work within change as the Web grows?
• What ethical questions will arise as nonprofit/for-profit partnerships grow? Will these partnerships affect accountability?
• Will nonprofits be visible on the Internet?

The INDEPENDENT SECTOR Research Forum is unique in that its format encourages all participants to join in the discussions. Participants receive all of the completed research papers before the conference, so that the Forum can focus on the central issues raised in presentations and allow participants to raise other issues. This format, over the 17-year tradition, has produced stimulating and informed debates that do not just end after our event.

INDEPENDENT SECTOR would like to acknowledge the generous support of this year's Forum sponsors and exhibitors. 

Twentieth Anniversary Spring Research Forum
Keep a lookout for information regarding the 2003 Forum theme and the Call for Papers. Mark your calendars now—March 20-21, 2003, in Washington, DC