Nonprofit Membership Organizations Falter Post Recession in Indiana

Charities outperformed other membership nonprofits

“The Great Recession and subsequent recovery appear to have taken a heavy toll on nonprofit organizations that rely on members for voluntary and financial support, a new Indiana University report shows.

The report’s authors conclude that these data on membership and related organizations may point to worrisome trends, as these groups, in addition to their direct impact on the Indiana economy, “provide the mechanisms by which a wide range of social, political, spiritual, philanthropic and professional activities are carried out.”

Membership and related organizations provide “social capital” to the organizations in which they operate, bonding residents through shared experiences. While this report does not examine whether the public’s engagement with membership organizations has actually declined, the loss of employees may have serious consequences on these organizations’ abilities to “most effectively serve their members and benefit Indiana communities.” – Taken from the Lilly Family School of Philanthroy press release

Learn more from Kristen Grønbjerg, project director and professor at the Indiana University Bloomington School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Efroymson Chair in Philanthropy at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy in Indianapolis, and read the full press release from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy

See the full report:

• Indiana Nonprofit Employment: Historical Trends in Membership and Related Organizations, 1995-2011
• Four page summary