SPEA report shows membership nonprofit employment falling

Even as the economy begins to make improvements, nonprofit membership organizations are continuing to struggle.

The 10th nonprofit employment report from the Indiana Nonprofits: Scope and Community Dimensions project in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs reported that nonprofit organizations in Indiana lost more than 1,000 employees from 2007 to 2011. This accounts for trade unions, political groups, business associations and fundraising organizations.

The report points out that this section of the nonprofit sector does not face any competition from the for-profit sector.

The Indiana Nonprofits: Scope and Community Dimensions project is directed by Kristen Grønbjerg, SPEA professor and Efroymson Chair in Philanthropy at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy in Indianapolis.

“While grantmaking and social advocacy organizations saw very little loss of employment during the Great Recession, employment in business and professional organization has been on a downward spiral since the previous recession in 2001,” Grønbjerg said in a May 1 press release.

The researchers, Grønbjerg and IU Master of Public Affairs Deb Seltzer said membership organizations may have more difficulty attracting participants and donors than other nonprofits such as health and education.

The report also found that charities consistently outperformed nonprofits in both payroll and employment.

An example of this can be seen in civic organizations, as charitable civic organization employment grew by almost 50 percent from 1995 to 2011 and employment in all other civic nonprofits dropped by more than 25 percent.

These results may be worrisome for the Indiana economy given that these groups provide avenues for an array of social, spiritual, political and philanthropic pursuits, according to the report.

This report does not examine to what extent the public’s engagement with membership organizations has declined, though the loss of employees may impact the organizations’ abilities to effectively interact with the communities they serve.

Anna Hyzy