Research Results:
Paper Abstracts

Do Organizational Characteristics and Activities Influence Nonprofit Capacities: An Analysis of Indiana's Nonprofit Sector

Li Chuan Liu and Kirsten A. Grønbjerg

Paper presented at ARNOVA Annual Conference, Philadelphia, PA, November 19-22, 2008.

Abstract

Organizational capacity is a critical issue for nonprofit organizations. Not only are there internal pressures to improve organizational performance, but they also face a wide variety of external challenges to which they must respond effectively if they are to survive. In order to enhance organizational capacities it is useful to start by an overview of the organization’s components and existing capacities and to examine which factors are associated with organizational components and existing capacities. For instance, do nonprofit organizations with different missions have different organizational capacities? How do organizational size, age and sources of revenue relate to organizational capacities? And, does involvement in formal collaborations help organizations strengthen their capacities?

To answer these questions, we rely on a 2007 survey of Indiana charities. We first present a basic analysis of organizational capacities. Following this, we explore what kind of organizational characteristics and activities are related to nonprofit organization capacities. For organizational characteristics we consider mission, age, size, source of revenue. For organizational activities we consider involvement in organizational formal collaborations. We then seek to determine which organizational characteristics and activities help explain variations in organization capacities.