Publications on Federal Statistics

Nonprofit boards are receiving increased attention from policymakers, media, researchers and the public. Yet most research, policy proposals, and best practice guidelines have been oriented toward large organizations. This brief helps fill a major gap in our understanding by focusing on governance among midsize nonprofits, identifying certain problem areas, and suggesting strategies that those engaged with midsize nonprofits may find helpful in strengthening their boards. The discussion uses data on the subset of 1,862 midsize organizations in our Urban Institute National Survey of Nonprofit Governance, the first national representative study of nonprofit governance.

Most heads of midsize nonprofits give their trustees low marks for fundraising and monitoring board performance, an Urban Institute study of nonprofits with annual expenses between $500,000 and $5 million has found.

Each year, U.S. jails process an estimated 12 million admissions and releases. Substance addiction, job and housing instability, mental illness, and a host of health problems are part of the day-to-day realities for a significant share of this population. Given that more than 80 percent of inmates are incarcerated for less than one month, jails have little time or capacity to address these deep-rooted and often overlapping issues. Life After Lockup synthesizes key findings from the Jail Reentry Roundtable and examines opportunities on the jail-to-community continuum where reentry-focused interventions can make a difference.

The Nonprofit Almanac 2008, from the Urban Institute Press, offers data and facts charting the sector’s recent evolution. The statistics-packed volume can help nonprofit managers, researchers, the press, and the public better understand changes in the sector and its economic role.

This working paper offers a descriptive analysis of the Latino nonprofit sector in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It examines the extent to which Latino nonprofits are equipped to address the needs of a rapidly growing Latino population. The study finds that both nonprofit organizations and religious congregations that primarily serve Latinos offer a wide range of services. Many of these groups are located in the suburbs. While Latino nonprofits constitute a significant economic presence in the region, the majority of organizations remain small. Data on nonprofits are drawn from the National Center for Charitable Statistics, and data on churches were collected by telephone survey.