Center for Nonprofit Research at University of San Diego Receives Endowment to Continue Critical Wor

SAN DIEGO – A-1 Self Storage, a San Diego-based company, has awarded the Center for Nonprofit Research at the University of San Diego’s School of Leadership and Education Sciences a major endowment to enhance research efforts and further the study of critical issues affecting San Diego’s nonprofit sector, announced Pat Libby, center founder and co-director.

The Caster Family Center for Nonprofit Research is committed to studying issues of strategic importance to the sector in order to identify and advance best practices in nonprofit leadership and management. The Center provides information that is beneficial to those who lead nonprofits and the millions of citizens they serve locally and nationally.

“This generous gift ensures that we will continue the work first begun when we were established in 2004 with support from The Westreich Foundation and the Bruce T. Halle Family Foundation,” says Libby. “With a sector that is growing exponentially and constitutes the 6th largest economy in the world, leadership must have access to data and resources that will help strengthen the sector.”

“The Caster Companies enthusiastically support the high quality work produced by the Center. We understand the benefits of providing leaders of nonprofits with the highest quality education focused on training responsible, ethical leaders,” said Terry Caster, founder of the Caster Companies, owners of A-1 Self Storage.

Since 2004, the Center has produced several significant reports affecting the nonprofit sector and become a respected think tank for nonprofit leaders.

In February, 2006, the Center issued its “Report on Nonprofit Executive Transition” which sought to define and understand the challenges posed by the projected massive departure of nonprofit leaders within the next five years. In October, 2006, Center issued a useful discussion guide “Beyond Regulation: Tools for Promoting Ethical Action in Nonprofit Organizations,” required reading within some nonprofits organizations. A November, 2006, report “A Spotlight on San Diego’s Third Sector” – an economic analysis of the nonprofit sector – won critical acclaim from business leaders and peer institutions.

Within the next few months, the Center will release two new reports that look at local confidence in San Diego’s nonprofit sector and the philanthropic environment here.

The University of San Diego, a Catholic Institution of higher learning chartered in 1949. The university enrolls approximately 7,500 students and is known for its commitment to teaching, the liberal arts, the formation of values and community service. The inauguration this fall of the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace brings the university’s total number of schools and colleges to six. Other academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences and the schools of Business Administration, Education, Law and Nursing and Health Science.

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About the University of San Diego

The University of San Diego sets the standard for an engaged, contemporary Catholic university where innovative Changemakers confront humanity’s urgent challenges. With more than 9,000 students from 69 countries and 50 states, USD is the youngest independent institution on the U.S. News & World Report list of top 100 universities in the United States. The university's eight academic divisions include the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Business, the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering, the School of Law, the School of Leadership and Education Sciences, the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science, the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and the Division of Professional and Continuing Education. USD's Envisioning 2024 strategic plan capitalizes on the university’s recent progress and aligns new strategic goals with current strengths to help shape a vision for the future as the university looks ahead to its 75th anniversary in the year 2024.