Competing for Resources and Meeting Demands: How

Nonprofits in Georgia Suburbs Fare Against Those in the Urban

Center?

Za Eng Mawi, Sophomore Michelle Wiggle, Junior

Amanda Wilsker, PhDJose Perez, MA Janita Rawls, PhD

Background

• Suburban poverty rates are growing at a rapid pace

• Atlanta seen as epicenter of suburban poverty (Berube 2015)

• Norcross used as example of suburban poverty in national publication (Semuels 2015)

• The Economist (2013) and The Politico (Burns 2014) used Cobb County as example

Poverty Population in Atlanta Suburbs

Metro Atlanta Counties

Research Question

Does the nonprofit sector in the suburbs have the same capacity as that in the urban center to

provide for their residents in poverty?

Literature Review• Seaman, Wilsker & Young (2014)

o Market concentration and distribution of resources at MSA level

o ⅓ of nonprofit markets in Atlanta are categorized as monopolistic

• Allard and Roth (2010)

o Resource adequacy in suburban communities surrounding Chicago; Los Angeles; and Washington D.C.

• Harrison (2008)

o Location decision - supply side variables (i.e. tax rates, agglomeration, & external economies of scale)

Cont. Literature Review

• Harrison & Laincz (2008)o Entry and Exit of nonprofit firms

• Besel & Andreescu (2003)o Interviewed surviving nonprofits from 1970so local funding

• Lakdawalla & Philipson (2005) o Nonprofit firms and changes in demand

Data

• US census data 2010

o Poverty rates per county

• 2010 core files from NCCS

o Five Metro Atlanta Counties - Fulton, Dekalb, Cobb, Clayton, Gwinnett

o Number of firms, Revenues, Contributions, Expenses (Chronicles of Philanthropy)

County Number People in Poverty

Number of NPOs

Total Revenue (millions)

Total Expense(millions)

Total Contribution

(millions)

Clayton 55,125 76 $ 327 $ 337 $ 35

Cobb 81,418 410 $ 2,190 $ 2,030 $ 134

Dekalb 126,343 653 $ 4,390 $ 4,180 $ 1,670

Fulton 151,055 1,458 $ 9,140 $ 8,790 $ 3,580

Gwinnett 109,870 448 $ 873 $ 828 $ 114

Descriptive Analysis

Descriptive Analysis

County Differences between Contribution Received and Deductions (in millions)

Clayton $ 99

Cobb $ 575

Dekalb $ 1,111

Fulton $ 2,118

Gwinnett $ 455

Categories & Exclusions

•Select Categories - Community Healthcare Clinics, Mental Health, Food Programs, Homeless Shelters, Human Services, Community Improvement, Philanthropy

•Excluded large organizations known to provide services across metro areas

Expenditures Per Person in Poverty

County Food Programs

Community Healthcare

Homeless Shelters

Human Services

Clayton $ 0.00 $ 0.00 $ 9.41 $ 274.08

Cobb $ 11.61 $ 206.68 $ 0.03 $ 298.00

DeKalb $ 17.98 $ 126.64 $ 6.59 $ 1,828.27

Fulton $ 240.12 $ 542.19 $ 168.59 $ 1,292.08

Gwinnett $ 2.83 $ 14.14 $ 4.13 $ 333.29

Conclusion

There may be a deficiency in the suburbs demonstrated by lower contributions, fewer

resources and fewer firms.

Policy Recommendations

• Incentivize nonprofit entry in suburbs

• Encourage private contributions to stay local

• Educate foundations and government agencies on suburban problems

Further Research

• Is private or public sector meeting the demand for the suburbs?

• Generalizability: does it affect other metropolitan areas?

• Looking more closely at large organizations, and how they are distributing their resources outside of the urban center.

Select CategoriesCategory Sub-Category NTEE

Health Care Ambulatory & Primary Health Care, Group Health Practices,Community Clinics

E30, E31, E32

Mental Health & Crisis Intervention

all all

Food, Agriculture & Nutrition Food Programs K30

Housing & Shelter Homeless Shelters L41

Human Services Human Services, Children & Youth Services, Family Services, Personal Social Services, Emergency Assistance

P1, P2, P3, P5, P11, P12, P19, P20, P28, P29, P30-99

Community Improvement & Capacity Building

all except Neighborhood & Block Associations

all except S22

Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Grantmaking Foundations

all all

Excluded Organizations

Category Organization

Health Care Children's Healthcare of Atlanta

Emory University

Food, Agriculture & Nutrition Atlanta Community Food Bank

Project Open-Hand Atlanta Inc.

Human Services Guardian Foundation Inc.

Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Grantmaking Foundations

The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta

References • Allard, S. W., & Roth, B. (2010). Strained suburbs: The social service

challenges of rising suburban poverty. Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program.

• Besel, K., & Andreescu, V. (2003). The role of county based funders in ‐sustaining nonprofits within rural and urbanized counties. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 13(3), 253-266.

• Broke in the Burbs’. (2013). The Economist Newspaper: Demographics. (Jul. 20 2013 Print Edition) http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21582019-poverty-has-moved-suburbs-broke-burbs

• Burns, Rebecca. (2014) Sprawled Out in Atlanta. The Politico Magazine. (May 8 2014 Issue) http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/05/sprawled-out-in-atlanta-106500

• Harrison, T. D. (2008). Taxes and Agglomeration Economies: How Are They Related to Nonprofit Firm Location?. Southern Economic Journal, 538-557

References• Harrison, T. D., & Laincz, C. A. (2008). Entry and exit in the nonprofit

sector. The BE Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 8(1).

• Kneebone, E., & Berube, A. (2013). Confronting suburban poverty in America. Brookings Institution Press.

• Lakdawalla, D., & Philipson, T. (2006). The nonprofit sector and industry performance. Journal of Public Economics, 90(8), 1681-1698.

• Seaman, B. A., Wilsker, A. L., & Young, D. R. (2014, October). Measuring Concentration and Competition in the US Nonprofit Sector: Implications for Research and Public Policy. In Nonprofit Policy Forum (Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 231-259).

• Semuels, Alana (2015). Suburbs and the New American Poverty. The Atlantic. Business. (Jan. 7 2015 Issue) http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/01/suburbs-and-the-new-american-poverty/384259/