Charities, Community Organizations

This report concludes a comprehensive evaluation of The Data & Democracy II project, a program funded by The California Endowment and implemented by UCLA. These organizations sought to increase the capacity of local community-based organizations (CBOs) to collect, analyze, and interpret data to identify and prioritize areas for action. The program was structured after the Train-the-Trainer model, in which a group from local CBOs is trained in these skills and required to disseminate the information by conducting workshops in their own communities. We examine the program's effectiveness, long-term impacts, and challenges through observations, surveys and case studies.

In an effort to keep better track of nonprofit organizations, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 mandated that the more than 714,000 organizations with gross receipts less than $25,000 needed to file the new Form 990-N, also known as the e-Postcard. Any organization that fails to file for three consecutive years will have their tax-exempt status revoked. The three year window closed for most organizations on May 17, 2010 and over 292,000 organizations have not yet complied with the new mandate. This brief highlights the type, size, age, and location of organizations that have not yet filed Form 990-N.

There are more than 19,000 nonprofit organizations devoted to supporting public education in the United States. These organizations include booster clubs, parent-teacher groups, public education funds, scholarship funds, high school alumni associations, and others. This report assesses the current status of education support organizations; provides details on the activities, capacities, and resources of public education funds; and compares Public Education Network member organizations with other types of education funds. On the basis of a survey of public education funds and an analysis of the latest data available from the National Center for Charitable Statistics, the report identifies key similarities and differences among the groups.

This brief highlights trends in the number and finances of 501(c)(3) public charities, as well as key findings on private charitable contributions and volunteering, two vital resources to the nonprofit sector. Figures on giving and volunteering include the most recent data available. Data reported on the nonprofit sector are from 2007—a snapshot of the sector just before the U.S. economic recession.

The nonprofit sector in the Baltimore-Washington region is undergoing a profound, albeit quiet, revolution driven by demographic change. The people and communities that nonprofits serve increasingly reflect a multiracial and multi-ethnic world, and a new generation of leaders will soon emerge as baby boomer executives retire. This report examines whether the Baltimore-Washington region’s nonprofit sector reflects the new demographic realities. The report, based on a representative sample of 501(c)(3) organizations, documents the extent to which the region’s nonprofit boards, staff, and executive leadership are racially and ethnically diverse. It also analyzes diversity by the organization’s size, type, and geographic location, and examines how the sector has been affected by the current economic downturn.