A Survey of Los Angeles Nonprofits

(posted November 14, 2001)

The Program on Leadership and Management of Nonprofit and Community-based Organizations is conducting a survey of over 2500 charitable organizations in Los Angeles to determine the role of nonprofits in providing services in major areas such as arts, culture, and humanities; education; environment; health and human services.

The survey will be directed by Social Welfare Professor Yeheskel "Zeke" Hasenfeld, whose long-term research interests involve measuring and understanding the assumptions of public assistance programs.

Professor Hasenfed prepared the following statement of purpose and objectives to the survey:

Purpose of the Survey on Non Profits
Los Angeles County is a dynamic and rapidly changing community that is shaped by powerful economic, demographic and cultural forces. It has undergone major economic transformations partly due to shifts from a manufacturing to a service economy, dramatic demographic changes brought about by large waves of immigration mostly from Mexico, Central America and Asia, and a rapid increase in ethnic, social and cultural heterogeneity. While these forces have contributed to the vibrancy and vitality of the region, they have also increased economic inequality, ethnic and social tensions and political conflicts. In this dynamic context, nonprofits in Los Angeles County face a critical challenge in promoting a civil society. They are called upon to meet the changing human service needs of the region, to respond to the effects of economic and social inequality, to give voice to diverse ethnic and cultural sentiments, and to create crosscutting and bridging associations to promote community integration. The purpose of the survey of Los Angeles nonprofits is to assess the ability of the sector to meet these challenges. To the best of our knowledge, there has never been a comprehensive study of the nonprofit sector in the region. It will lay the basis for future planned surveys that will track the changes in the sector over time while focusing on specific policy issues pertaining to nonprofits. Understanding the evolving functions, activities and organizations of nonprofits in Los Angeles – a quintessential prismatic metropolis – is essential to informing public policies for the region. It will also provide invaluable information to nonprofit organizations in Los Angeles for their strategic planning and management decisions. Using data from the survey about the nonprofits in their own domain (including their geo-mapping), organizations will be able to evaluate the distinctiveness of their service niche, identify service gaps, examine the appropriateness of their organizational structure, assess the strength of their resource base, and identify opportunities for interorganizational collaborations. The study will also serve as a catalyst to informed discussions about the appropriate functions of the nonprofit sector in a changing urban America.

Objectives of the Survey

1. Obtain a comprehensive picture of the organizational characteristics of the nonprofit sector in Los Angeles. Specifically, the survey will identify the various organizational forms of nonprofits (e.g., governance, affiliation, professionalization, use of volunteers) in various spheres such as health, education, social services, arts and culture.

2. Understand the scope and range of activities and services that nonprofits provide. The survey will attempt to determine the target populations, and the range and scope of services or activities provided to them, and patterns of delivery.

3. Determine the finances and resource capacities of nonprofits. The survey will measure the extent to which nonprofits rely on revenues from public sector grants and contracts, fees, donations and other revenue generating activities. It will also measure the assets and other resources available to the nonprofits and the stability of their financial base.

4. Map the interoganizational relations and linkages nonprofits have with business and government, other nonprofits, for-profits, faith-based organizations and grassroots organizations.

5. Examine the advocacy activities undertaken by nonprofits and their impact on public policy.

Methodology

The survey will focus on charitable organizations, typically classified by IRS as 501(c) (3). IRS business master file for 1998 identifies about 23,000 charitable organizations in Los Angeles. But this figure clearly undercounts many religious organizations and small nonprofits such as grassroots organizations. On the basis of national estimates, we can assume that the universe is probably closer to 35,000 organizations. In addition to the IRS lists of registered nonprofits, several additional databases will be assembled to determine the probable universe of nonprofits in Los Angeles County. These databases will include such sources as the Registry of Charitable Trusts of the California Attorney General office, Secretary of State, organizations listed in Info-line, member agencies of The Center for Nonprofit Management and the Yellow pages. We plan to draw a 10% random sample of these organizations, stratified by size and primary activity. We want to ensure that small community based, religious and ethnic organizations are adequately represented in the sample. The survey will consist of a structured telephone interview (or a face-to-face interview, if needed) with the executive of the organization. The aim is to achieve a response rate of 70% or better.

Analyses and Reports

The analysis of the data will focus on several areas:

1. The role of nonprofits in providing services in major areas such as arts, culture, and humanities; education; environment; health and human services.

2. The responsiveness of the nonprofit sector to the ethnic and cultural diversity of Los Angeles.

3. The financial and resource stability of the nonprofit sector as a whole and its constituent components, and its dependency on government contracts and grants, revenue generating activities, charitable donations and fees.

4. The factors that shape the organizational forms that nonprofits adopt and the degree to which they are affected by commercialization and marketization (e.g. competition with for profits) pressures.

5. The implications of the survey to the management of nonprofits including strategic planning, governance, organizational design, resource mobilization and interorganizational relations.

6. The relationships between nonprofits, the public sector and the business sector.

7. The advocacy roles of nonprofits with particular emphasis on grassroots and ethnic-based organizations.