Nonprofit Resources for Children and Youth in the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Region

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

Note: This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

Report Summary

The confluence of rising social service needs and the shaky economy in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region has heightened the need to critically examine the availability and capacity of nonprofit resources for children and youth in the D.C. metro area. A lack of systematic information, however, has limited our understanding of the impact of social and economic changes on local child and youth serving nonprofits in the region. As a first step to addressing this shortcoming, this report uses data from the National Center for Charitable Statistics and several local grantmakers to examine the characteristics and finances of these nonprofits in the D.C. area. The report provides information from the first of a series of analyses on child- and youth-related nonprofits in the region.

The report shows that local children and youth nonprofits are diverse, generally long-tenured, and distributed throughout the metropolitan area, although much geographic variation is evident. The report yields the following key findings:

• There are more than 1,100 local organizations in the region that are focused primarily on providing goods and services to children and youth. Another 211 local groups offer some level of programming.
• Of the roughly 1,110 groups with a primary focus on serving children and youth, the largest number are social welfare nonprofits (516), followed by youth development organizations (306), and education providers (292).
• Child and youth serving nonprofits have deep roots in the region. The average provider has been supplying services since the early 1980s.
• Comparing the location of local child and youth nonprofits to where children live, some localities appear to have many nonprofit resources, while others have relatively few. Communities that are relatively rich in nonprofit providers include Falls Church, the District, and Alexandria. Localities that are relatively weak in organizational resources include Prince George's and Prince William Counties.
• Comparing the location of these providers to residential patterns of child poverty, some communities appear to be better off than others. Falls Church, Loudoun County and Frederick County have the most providers per child in poverty, while Prince William and Prince George's County have the least.
• Local child- and youth-related nonprofits in the D.C. metro area raised more than $1.5 billion in revenue and spent $1.3 billion in 2000.
• Child- and youth-serving nonprofits have fewer financial resources than the rest of the nonprofit sector in the region, even when excluding colleges, universities and hospitals. Some program areas, such as delinquency prevention and youth sports, are particularly small financially, when compared with other types of child and youth nonprofit providers.

Note: This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to acknowledge the contributions made by the Morino Institute, the Advisory Board Foundation, the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Community Foundation of the National Capital Region, the Consumer Health Foundation, the Freddie Mac Foundation, the Eugene & Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, and the Washington Area Women's Foundation. The financial support from these institutions made this research possible.

The author would also like to thank Jennifer Auer, Constance Lindsay, and Reisha Phills for their research assistance and statistical support. Thanks also to the following members of the advisory committee and research group for their suggestions and comments.

Members of the Advisory Committee

• Maxine Baker, President & CEO, Freddie Mac Foundation
• Chuck Bean, Executive Director, Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington
• Elizabeth T. Boris, Director, Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy, The Urban Institute
• Kae Dakin, Executive Director, Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers
• Terri Lee Freeman, President, Community Foundation for the National Capital Region
• Irene Lee, Senior Program Officer, Annie E. Casey Foundation
• Mario Morino, Chairman, Venture Philanthropy Partners
• Carrie L. Thornhill, Vice President, Community Outreach, DC Agenda

Research Group Members

• Shirley Marcus Allen, Senior Partner, Venture Philanthropy Partners
• Julie Dean, Program Director, Youth Investment, DC Agenda
• Carol J. De Vita, Senior Research Associate, The Urban Institute
• Sharon Forrest, Chief of Staff, Freddie Mac Foundation
• Kathryn Pettit, Research Associate, The Urban Institute
• Caterina Gouvis Roman, Senior Research Associate, The Urban Institute
• Peter Tatian, Senior Research Associate, The Urban Institute
• Kathy Whelpley, VP of Program & Donor Engagement, Community Foundation for the National Capital Region

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Urban Institute, its board, or its sponsors.

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

Usage, posting and reprint of materials on the UI web site:

Most publications may be downloaded free of charge from the web site in PDF format. This information may be used and copies made for research, academic, policy or other non-commercial purposes. Proper attribution is required.

Copyright of the written materials contained within the Urban Institute website is owned or controlled by the Urban Institute. Posting UI research papers on other websites is permitted subject to prior approval from the Urban Institute—contact paffairs@urban.org.

If you are unable to access or print the PDF document please contact us or call the Publications Office at (202) 261-5687.