This page contains resources developed by ARNOVA members interested in strengthening nonprofit organization survey research.

To learn more, see the list of resources on this page and in the NCCS Knowledgebase/FAQ+.

General Resources

• Surveying Nonprofits: A Methods Handbook. Jeffrey M Berry, David F. Arons, Gary D. Bass, Matthew F. Carter, Kent E. Portney. http://www.nonprofitresearch.org/publications1526/publications_show.htm?doc_id=215145 (order from Aspen Institute)
• Response Rates for Mail Surveys of Nonprofit Organizations: A Review and Empirical Test.  Hager, Wilson, Pollak and Rooney.  Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Vol. 32, No. 2, 252-267 (2003). http://nvs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/32/2/252 (abstract)
• Overhead Cost Survey Methodology. Discussion on Indiana Center on Philanthropy/Urban Institute survey of 1,500 organizations. This complex design included a combination of phone calls, mailings and financial incentives. http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/FAQ/index.php?category=81
• The definitive guide to survey methodology is Don A. Dillman's classic book on "Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method".

List of Surveys of Nonprofit Organizations

National

Listening Post Project, Ongoing (Johns Hopkins University)
http://www.jhu.edu/listeningpost/
This is a multi year project that surveys 1,100 nonprofit organizations on challenges and pressures facing the nonprofit sector.

Survey of Nonprofit Employment Practices, 2007 (workfornonprofits.org)
http://www.workfornonprofits.org/Media/Articles/Nonprofits%20Challenged%20by%20Recruiting%20-%20Press%20Release.pdf
This is the first annual survey of nonprofit organizations by workfornonprofits.org on nonprofit employment practices.

National Board Governance Survey for Not-for-Profit Organizations, 2006 (Grant Thornton)
http://www.grantthornton.com/staticfiles/GTCom/files/Industries/NotForProfit/nfp_board1.pdf
This is the third annual governance survey conducted by Grant Thornton.  The 2006 survey had 960 respondents.

State of the Nonprofit Industry, 2006 (Blackbaud)
http://www.blackbaud.com/files/resources/industry_analysis/12-06_NonprofitIndustrySurvey_Results.pdf?WT.mc_id=IA_2006SONI
This is one of three surveys conducted by Blackbaud that seeks to give nonprofits information that they can use to benchmark their operations. This survey focused on three primary areas: general operations, use of the internet, and accountability and stewardship.

Charitable Organizations and the Economy, 2006 (GuideStar)
http://www.guidestar.org/news/features/2006_survey.pdf
This is the fifth annual GuideStar survey of charitable organizations. The 2006 survey focused on contribution levels and demand for services.

Nonprofit Hospital Systems: Survey on Executive Compensation Policies and Practices, 2006 (GAO)
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06907r.pdf
At the request of Congress, the GAO conducted this survey of 100 select nonprofit hospital systems. The survey focused on executive compensation policies and practices.

National Survey of Nonprofit Governance, 2005 (Urban Institute)
http://www.urban.org/publications/311363.html
This is the first national representative survey on nonprofit governance. The study gathered responses of 5,115 nonprofit organizations.

Faith Communities Today 2000 and 2005, ongoing (Cooperative Congregations Studies Partnership)
http://fact.hartsem.edu/fact2005news.html
The goal of this project is to conduct a biennial national survey of congregations. Each survey will ask a repeated set of items to track changes and trends, a specific set of topical items tied to a congregational resource, and a unique set of new items of immediate public interest.

Nonprofit Governance Index, 2004 (BoardSource)
http://www.boardsource.org/dl.asp?document_id=424
Part of a series of surveys conducted by BoardSource (1994,1996,1999, and 2004) that focuses on the topics of board composition, policies and practices.

Nonprofit Executive Leadership and Transitions Survey, 2004 (Managance Consulting and Transitionguides)
http://linux1900.dn.net/publications/data/executive_transition_survey_report2004.pdf
Funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, this survey sought to gain baseline data on the rate of transitions in nonprofit organizations and the career paths of current nonprofit executives.

National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations, 2003 (Nonprofitscan.ca)
http://www.nonprofitscan.ca/page.asp?nsnvo
The National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations (NSNVO) was a four-year research project that sought to build an understanding of the charitable and nonprofit sector in Canada

Survey of Nonprofits on Government Grants, 2002 (OMB Watch, Urban Institute and GuideStar)
http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/1454/1/102?TopicID=1
This was an online survey to determine priorities of nonprofit organizations in implementation of the Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 1999.

The National Congregations Study, 1999
http://saint-denis.library.arizona.edu/natcong/jssrmeth.pdf
Interviews were conducted with 1,236 congregations focusing on the topics of social composition, structure, activities and programming.

Survey of Research and Development Funding and Performance by Nonprofit Organizations, 1997 (NSF)
http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/srvyrdnonprofit/srdfmeth.htm
This study collected information on the science and engineering research and development activities of nonprofit organizations. It collected data both from nonprofits that fund these activities and from those that perform them themselves. The study was done to meet needs for information about the role of the nonprofit sector in funding and conducting science and engineering research and development in the United States.

Independent Sector's "Impact of Federal Budget Proposals Upon the Activities of Charitable Organizations...1996-2002 (1996)
This study is based on a survey of 100 organizations in diverse fields and the likely impact of the proposed 1996 federal budget cuts on their funding.
http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/knowledgebase/detail.php?linkID=804&category=11&xrefID=3036

State and Local

Paying for Overhead, 2007 (Center on Philanthropy, Indiana University)
http://www.philanthropy.iupui.edu/Research/WorkingPapers/PayingforOverhead.pdf
This study uses data from surveys administered to foundations and to education and human service organizations to determine the impact of foundations' overhead cost policies on education and human service organizations.

The New York City Nonprofits Project, circa 2002-2006 (City University)
http://www.nycnonprofits.org/exec_summary/index.html
This multi-year study combining analysis of IRS data and surveys resulted in a number of reports.

Greater Delaware Valley Nonprofit Wage and Benefit Survey, 2005 (Nonprofit Center, Lasalle University)
http://www.lasallenonprofitcenter.org/pdf/survey_wagebenefit/WBSIntro.pdf
The primary purpose of this survey was to create a benchmarking tool of nonprofit compensation and benefits practices in the Greater Delaware Valley.

Survey of the Financial Health of Illinois Nonprofits, 2004 (Donors Forum of Chicago)
http://www.donorsforum.org/forms_pdf/GettingItRight.pdf
This is the second study conducted by the Donors Forum of Chicago and Illinois Facilities Fund. The focus of both surveys was on gaining key financial data and to assess management and governance practices and trends.

The Human Services Subsector in Los Angeles, 2004 (UCLA Center for Civil Society)
http://www.spa.ucla.edu/ccs/docs/summaryreport.pdf
The purpose of this survey was determine the size and scope of the human services subsector in Los Angeles, the types of services provided by these organizations, and the challenges these organizations face.

Survey of Nonprofit Organizations in Minnesota, 2002 (Minnesota Council of Nonprofits)
This survey focused on the issue of state funding of nonprofits. For those organizations not receiving state funding, the questions focused on barriers to receiving funding. For those organizations receiving state funding, the questions focused on policies and practices of the funding mechanism.
http://www.mncn.org/doc/surveysummary.pdf

Indiana Nonprofit Survey, 2002 (Center on Philanthropy, Indiana University)
http://www.indiana.edu/~nonprof/results/npsurvey.html
This survey was designed to gain a broad array of knowledge on over 60,000 nonprofit organizations in Indiana. The topics of questions include programs and services, the impact of community and policy changes, relationships with other organizations, human resources, management issues, and financial information.

Nonprofit Tech Survey, The IT Revolution and Nonprofit Organizations in Los Angeles, 2001 (Center for Nonprofit Management)
http://www.cnmsocal.org/AboutNonprofits/TechSurveyReport.html
This survey was distributed to 2000 nonprofit organizations in southern California to determine if and how nonprofits are using IT in their work and any barriers to using IT that these organizations are facing.

Survey of the Santa Cruz Valley Nonprofit Sector, 2001 (Community Foundation of Santa Cruz Valley)
http://www.cfscc.org/FileDownload.cfm?file=1999_Survey_of_the_Nonprofit_Sector.pdf
This survey, conducted by the Community Foundation of Santa Cruz Valley, sought to determine the composition of the nonprofit sector in the community as well as to gain more specific knowledge on polices and practices and potential areas for growth.

Field-Specific Research

The Capacity of Performing Arts Presenting Organizations
http://www.urban.org/publications/410604.html
Working with the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Urban Institute's survey included both freestanding exempt organizations as well as those that are embedded in other organizations.