INDIANAPOLIS-- Contrary to common belief, the majority of Indiana’s nonprofits—nearly 60 percent—do collaborate and network with other organizations, according to Indiana Nonprofits: Affiliations, Collaborations and Competition, the latest report from a major survey of Indiana nonprofits by Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy and School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
"This finding is important because of widespread concern among funders and policy makers that nonprofits do not coordinate their activities," said Dr. Kirsten Grønbjerg, project director for the study. "We often hear questions about whether nonprofits are duplicating services and operating in isolation from one another. That doesn’t appear to be a pervasive problem in Indiana."
Only two out of five nonprofits say they compete with other organizations for resources, such as funding, staff, volunteers and board members, a finding that surprised the researchers.
"I expected the vast majority to say that they compete for funding, given that our earlier studies found funding to be a major concern for most organizations. This finding suggests that many groups may not be attuned to the competition they do face," said Grønbjerg. "On the other hand, some nonprofits who say they don’t compete with other organizations for resources may, in fact, occupy highly specialized niches, and therefore not face much competition."
Indiana Nonprofits: Affiliations, Collaborations and Competition is the fifth report in a series based on a survey of 2,206 Indiana charities, congregations, advocacy, and mutual benefit nonprofits completed in 2002 as part of the Indiana Nonprofits: Scope and Community Dimensions project. No other study has examined such a variety of nonprofits or done so in such detail.
Other key findings from the report:
- More than half of Indiana nonprofits are formally affiliated with another organization, either as headquarters, a local subsidiary, or in another way. This is particularly true for religion nonprofits.
- Health and education nonprofits are most likely to participate in collaborations. Arts, culture and humanities nonprofits are most likely to indicate that they benefit from such involvement.
- Informal networks are more common than contractual or other formal collaborations.
- Collaborations have mixed effects. Some nonprofits say collaboration or participation in networks helps them maintain certain organizational capacities, such as enhancing the organization’s visibility and reputation, meeting member and client needs and obtaining funding. Others report collaboration has no effect on such fundamental tasks as recruiting and retaining board members. However, very few report that collaborative efforts have any negative consequences.
- Nonprofits with basic technological components - computers, Internet access and Web sites - are significantly more likely than those without these resources to receive certain types of federated funding (such as Catholic Charities and United Jewish Appeal), participate in collaborations or networks, benefit from collaborations and compete with other organizations.
Grønbjerg is a professor in nonprofit management in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University and holds the Efroymson Chair in Philanthropy at the Center on Philanthropy headquartered at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI).
This report is part of the ongoing Indiana Nonprofit Sector: Scope and Community Dimensions project begun in 1999 to examine the size and composition of the Indiana nonprofit sector and the critical role Indiana nonprofits play in communities. The project is funded through support from the Efroymson Chair in Philanthropy by The Indianapolis Foundation, an affiliate of the Central Indiana Community Foundation, and the Center on Philanthropy's Indiana Research Fund, supported in part by Lilly Endowment Inc. The new report is available on the project Web site www.indiana.edu/~nonprof .
The School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University, located on eight campuses, is committed to teaching, research, and service in areas such as public and nonprofit management, public policy, environmental science, criminal justice, arts administration and health administration. The school maintains continuing relationships with a large number of public agencies at all levels of government; public and private hospitals and health organizations; and nonprofit organizations and corporations in the private sector. SPEA has earned national distinction for innovative educational programs that combine administrative, social, economic, financial and environmental disciplines.
The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, a part of the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI, is a leading academic center dedicated to increasing the understanding of philanthropy and improving its practice through research, teaching, public service and public affairs programs in philanthropy, fundraising, and management of nonprofit organizations.