How Permeable is the Nonprofit Sector? Linking Resources, Demand, and Government Provision to the Distribution of Organizations Across Nonprofit Mission-Based Fields

Abstract

A large vibrant nonprofit sector is often equated with a civically active and democratically inclined population. Yet, the degree to which different interests and needs are equally activated in a community’s nonprofit sector remains unclear. This article argues that more than the number of nonprofit organizations, the distribution of organizations across nonprofit fields can better represent the plurality of the nonprofit sector and its relationship to democracy. If the sector represents a permeable sphere for the activation of interests through formal voluntary action, one should see a more even nonprofit landscape in communities where there is greater population heterogeneity. Using national data on nonprofit organizations to investigate the determinants of nonprofit heterogeneity in U.S. counties, findings indicate that the nonprofit sector is semipermeable. Although greater population heterogeneity does lead to a more evenly distributed nonprofit sector, resource dependency and resource inequality complicate this relationship.