Research Results:
Paper Abstracts

Community Variations in the Size and Scope of the Nonprofit Sector: Theory and Preliminary Findings

Kirsten A. Grønbjerg & Laurie Paarlberg

Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 30 (No. 4, December, 2001) 684-706. Page 684, copyright © 2001 by Sage Publications, Inc. Abstract reprinted by permission of Sage Publications, Inc.

Abstract

Nonprofits both reflect and shape community conditions. Understanding the nature of this relationship is important if we are to fully comprehend the role nonprofits play in contemporary society and if policy makers are to make effective use of the sector to implement local responses to community needs. Using data on IRS-registered nonprofits for Indiana counties, we examine how theories of demand, supply, and social structure predict the overall density of nonprofits in local communities. We find substantial county-level variations in the densities of nonprofits overall and of charitable, advocacy, and mutual-benefit nonprofits. Using multiple regression techniques, we are able to explain 20-46 percent of overall variation (depending on the legal category involved) in nonprofit densities.

Our findings support the supply and social structure, but not demand,
explanations, and reveal somewhat divergent patterns for the various types of nonprofits. We note several important caveats to our findings.