Nonprofit Statistics

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.