Nonprofit History’s New Numbers (and the Need for More)

Abstract

This article describes the section on nonprofit statistics that will be in the forthcoming edition of Historical Statistics of the United States. The article provides a few examples of the use of long-term statistical series to gain perspective on the contemporary nonprofit sector and of the use of such series in evaluating standard liberal interpretations of American history in general. The historical examples in the article (such as the decline in American generosity since the 1960s) are as much suggestive as definitive but all point to valuable questions to be explored through more detailed studies.