This volume is not the literary equivalent of the proverbial camel – a horse put together by a committee. Rather, it is a genuine product of intense teamwork. Great effort was made by all the contributors to incorporate their work as part of a single, unified analysis of the forces causing the growing commercialism of nonprofit organizations, the forms that commercialism is taking, and the likely consequences.

The process of producing an integrated volume began with lengthy conversations with the prospective authors, to determine not only their interest in joining the team but also their willingness to agree to procedures that would impose some strictures in order to produce a cohesive book. The next stage was a working conference lasting a day and a half, during which the proposed perspective and approach were discussed, to give each participating author full opportunity to propose modifications; time was then allotted to the discussion of the two-page outlines that each author had circulated prior to the conference. In this way, each participant learned about the plans of all the others, and the volume's integration was advanced.

Nine months later a second working conference was held. First drafts of all papers had been circulated in advance, and each of us served as a discussant of another's paper. As the organizer of the overall research project, I gave written comments and suggestions to every author and had subsequent conversations to expand on the revisions that were proposed.