Philanthropy and the Nonprofit Sector in a Changing America

The nonprofit sector in America consists of some 1.5 million tax-exempt organizations, ranging in size from storefront human services agencies and one-room churches to giant universities and medical centers. The sector accounts for about seven percent of national income, employs some 10 million workers, and uses the services of about 90 million volunteers.

This book originated at a conference sponsored by the American Assembly and the Indiana Center on Philanthropy. Leading scholars and practitioners consider three key clusters of issues: What forces will determine the shape and activities of philanthropy and the nonprofit sector in the next decade? How will philanthropy and the nonprofit sector be strengthened or weakened by those forces? How can the challenges of grappling with the forces be transformed into opportunities? The focus is on a variety of pressures: the devolution of federal programs to the state and local levels; the blurting of lines between nonprofit and for-profit organizations; changing distributions of income; major new wealth and its concentration; a revived interest in community and civil society; the evolution of religion and religious institutions; globalization; and other regulatory reform; a retreat of government from tax various policy areas; and the rise of privatization and market models.