Latest Reports from the Center on Nonprofits & Philanthropy

This study examines immigrant integration through the lens of community-based organizations. Based on interviews with nonprofit leaders and an analysis of data from the National Center for Charitable Statistics, the study found that immigrant-serving nonprofits provide a wide range of programs and services to foreign-born communities which promote the social and political mobility of newcomers. Findings also suggest a potential spatial mismatch between immigrant-serving organizations and the people they serve. The organizations are concentrated in the metropolitan area while immigrant populations are growing in the outer suburbs. Moreover, different political and administrative structures and policies affect the ability of these nonprofits to serve their constituents.

This policy brief summarizes the findings of a larger report on racial-ethnic diversity in California's nonprofit sector (see www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=411977). It documents the extent to which California's nonprofit boards, staff, and executive leadership are racially and ethnically diverse, and analyzes diversity by an organization's size, type, funding patterns, and geographic location within the state. The brief examines how California nonprofits with diverse leadership have been affected by the current economic downturn, and presents three models for measuring diversity using different definitions of organizational diversity.

Decisionmakers in California and across the country are facing critical challenges related to diversity. But until now, there has not been a comprehensive picture of how California's nonprofit sector has responded to this demographic transition. This report, based on a representative sample of California's 501(c)(3) organizations, documents the extent to which California's nonprofit boards, staff, and executive leadership are racially and ethnically diverse. It analyzes diversity by an organization's size, type, funding patterns, and geographic location within the state, and examines how California nonprofits with diverse leadership have been affected by the current economic downturn. The report also presents three models for measuring diversity using different definitions of organizational diversity.

Latinos, California's largest minority population, are the most underrepresented group of color in the state's nonprofit sector, according to the first systematic study of racial and ethnic diversity in California's nonprofits.

This series of fact sheets provides a quick overview of the nonprofit sector in each of the nine parishes that comprise Central Louisiana – Allen, Avoyelles, Catahoula, Grant, LaSalle, Natchitoches, Rapides, Vernon, and Winn. Each fact sheet provides information on the number of nonprofits and congregations found in the parish; the types of services offered; basic financial measures, such as total revenues, expenses, assets, and liabilities; sources of revenue; and a measure of fiscal health. The fact sheets also include basic demographic information for the parish, such as total population, median age, race-ethnic composition and median household income. A companion report, A Profile of Nonprofit Organizations in Central Louisiana, provides a detailed analysis of the size, scope, fiscal health, and other dimensions of the sector.

Nonprofit organizations in Central Louisiana are an integral part of community life, helping people in need and providing cultural and civic opportunities to local residents. Yet most people have only a vague idea of the number and types of nonprofits in the region or the financial resources needed to support and sustain this work. This report is a comprehensive study of Central Louisiana's nonprofit sector. It examines the size, scope, and financial underpinning of the sector, and explores the extent to which nonprofits and religious congregations collaborate with each other and with other groups. It also reports the challenges that nonprofit and faith-based leaders see as critical to the region. A companion report, Central Louisiana in Focus, provides a statistical fact sheet for each of the nine parishes in the region.

Cities around the world are building urban cultural life as a way to develop local economies and revitalize urban centers. But they have done less to recognize and systematically promote the cultural lives of urban neighborhoods and their residents. This brief examines four characteristics of city cultural policy that affect cultural development and cultural life in neighborhoods. The brief is informed by policy forums held by The Living Cultures Project in New Orleans in 2008-2009 to address key policy issues confronting neighborhood and cultural life.

Thomas H. Pollak, coauthor of "Washington-Area Nonprofit Operating Reserves" answers five questions about local nonprofits’ financial health. This first-of-its-kind study looks at the operating reserves of public charities—from soup kitchens to job-training centers to local arts groups—as reported in their 2006 tax filings. The study found that most nonprofits had weak reserves before the downturn, leaving them vulnerable to effects of the recession.

This report, funded by the Meyer Foundation, looks at the operating reserves—the cash and other liquid assets—of public charities in the Washington Metropolitan area. Using IRS Form 990 data, the report found that 57 percent had reserves insufficient to cover three months of expenses, a level that many experts consider the minimum necessary for financial stability. This leaves them especially vulnerable to the rapid declines in revenue or increases in expenses that occur in economic downturns like the present. A substantial perecentage of all types and sizes of organizations lacked adequate reserves.

Charitable giving in North Carolina has been on the upswing for nearly ten years, but the economic downturn is affecting individuals' ability and willingness to give. Using tax returns stripped of personal identifiers, the report examines charitable giving by North Carolina tax payers and those in the Research Triangle. Overall, charitable giving by North Carolinians is higher than the national average both in terms of dollars given and the share of gross adjusted income given. Yet, despite its relatively high levels of income, Triangle residents give less to charity than the average Tar Heel. Even among high-income earners (those with adjusted gross income of $100,000 or more), Triangle residents give about the same amount in absolute dollars, on average, but about a half percentage point less than their statewide peers. Regional and county variations in giving suggest that fundraising appeals must be carefully targeted to be successful.