Inquiry and Impact: A Decade of Research on the Nonprofit World

inquir y and impacta decade of research on the nonprofit worldCenter on Nonprofits and PhilanthropyAdvancing Practice, Informing Policy6347-01 REVISED.qxd 12/5/06 8:39 AM Page 19 StaffAmy BlackwoodElizabeth T. BorisAmisha ChaudharyAmanda CooperCarol J. De VitaPetya KehayovaFrancie OstrowerPho S. PalmerThomas H. PollakCarole E. RosensteinMahesh SomashekharSenior FellowC. Eugene SteuerleAssociate ScholarsEvelyn BrodyChicago-Kent College of Law,Illinois Institute of TechnologyJoseph J. CordesSchool of Public Policyand Public Administration,George Washington UniversityMartin DavidThe Urban InstituteBradford H. GrayThe Urban InstituteBill LevisThe Urban InstituteNational Center forCharitable Statistics AdvisorsPaul ArnsbergerStatistics of Income Division,Internal Revenue ServiceKarin Kunstler GoldmanNew York State Departmentof Law, Charities BureauKirsten A. GrønbjergCenter on Philanthropy at IndianaUniversity, School of Public andEnvironmental AffairsNadine JalandoniIndependent SectorCharles McLeanGuideStar/PhilanthropicResearch, Inc.Jon PrattMinnesota Council of NonprofitsMargaret RileyStatistics of Income Division,Internal Revenue ServiceGeorgia SalesFrederick SchoffThe Foundation CenterMark StarcherScanMark, Ltd.Ronald WilliamsOffice of BusinessSystems Planning, InternalRevenue ServiceMark WilsonSchool of Planning, Designand Construction, MichiganState UniversityCenter on Nonprofitsand Philanthropy Advisors Alan J. AbramsonNonprofit Sector andPhilanthropy Program,The Aspen InstituteGregg S. BehrThe Grable FoundationMichael CortésMichael Cortés & AssociatesHarvey P. DaleNational Center on Philanthropyand the Law, New York UniversitySchool of LawVirginia HodgkinsonGeorgetown UniversityPublic Policy InstituteEstelle JamesStanley N. KatzCenter for Arts and CulturalPolicy Studies, PrincetonUniversityLoren RenzThe Foundation CenterJames Allen SmithGeorgetown UniversityPublic Policy InstituteJulian WolpertEmeritus, Woodrow WilsonSchool, Princeton UniversityAcknowledgments6347-01 REVISED.qxd 12/5/06 8:39 AM Page 2 1our first decadeThe Urban InstituteCenter on Nonprofitsand PhilanthropyUnder the Center’swing, some of thecountry’s top expertson the nonprofit sectorhave opened up newfields of inquiry andpioneered the use ofthe NCCS data system. The Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy’s tenth anniversarycalls forcelebration and thanks. Celebration because we now have access to information we couldonly dream about ten years ago. Thanks because I have had the privilege of working withso many creative and dedicated people during a period of great progress in nonprofitsector research.The concept of a major think tank with a center devoted to research and data on thenonprofit sector and philanthropy was completely new ten years ago. Bill Gorham, thenPresident of the Urban Institute, warmly embraced the idea and asked Gene Steuerle,Senior Fellow, to help define and establish the Center. Gene has been a valued partnerever since, inspiring us with his passion, ideas, and top-notch research. Urban Instituteturned out to be the right home for the Center. We have drawn on the Institute’s deepexpertise and technical know-how and the support of its President, Bob Reischauer.Success has come from support. The initial five-year operating grant from The AtlanticPhilanthropies in 1996 and its challenge grant in 2001 gave us the wherewithal to developthe National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) National Nonprofit Data System, makeit public, and field a research team that has greatly deepened knowledge and spurreddialogue about the nonprofit sector. With the generous support of major foundations(see inside back cover), we matched The Atlantic Philanthropies’ $10 million challengegrant by mid-2006 and earmarked it for maintaining and updating the NCCS data systemand related analyses. After years of development, we can proudly report that the nonprofitsector has a robust, widely accessible, and sustainable research data system.Many people contributed their wisdom and hard work to the realization of our goals.The prime movers were Joel Fleishman, then President of Atlantic Philanthropic ServiceCompany, Inc. and Harvey Dale, then President and CEO of The Atlantic Philanthropies.Joel had the foresight to understand the importance of constructing a data infrastructurefor the nonprofit sector, the courage to provide long-term developmental funding, and thestamina to help us make the case for matching funds. Harvey tirelessly supported ourefforts and served on the Center’s advisory committee for ten years, sharing his deepknowledge and insights. Virginia Hodgkinson, former Vice President for Research atIndependent Sector, helped NCCS move from the Independent Sector to the UrbanInstitute, generously providing her good counsel throughout the transition. Without thecontributions of these and all of our past and present advisors, our efforts would havebeen much less successful. We are indebted to them for their time and talent.Under