The Rest of the Nonprofit Sector: Grassroots Associations as the Dark Matter Ignored in Prevailing "Flat Earth" Maps of the Sector

Abstract

Many nonprofit scholars recognize and study only paid staff nonprofits. More general, research-based, statistical overview 'maps" of the nonprofit sector (NPS)follow this same 'flat earth" approach. The rest of the NPS consists mainly of grassroots associations, which have cumulative magnitudes greater than paid staff nonprofits in America on several dimensions circa 1990-numbers of groups, memberships, members, active volunteers, yearly hours of volunteer time, and full-time equivalents (FTEs) of annual work by associational (not program) volunteers. These figures, combined with better estimates of numbers of IRS-missing paid staff nonprofits, constitute the first comprehensive "round earth" statistical map of the NPS as presented here. IRS listings and prevailing flat earth statistical maps based on them ignore about 90% of all nonprofits in the nation as well as half of volunteers and their work time. Suggestions are made for improving future NPS map making and research.