The Philadelphia Foundation to Determine Impact of Nonprofits

The Economy League was commissioned by the Philadelphia Foundation to conduct a two-part analysis of the state of nonprofits in Greater Philadelphia. While more than 15% of jobs in the five-county region are in the nonprofit sector, the state of the financial health of the sector remains unknown.

The research will:

• benchmark the current state of economic health of the region's nonprofit sector,
• quantify measures relating to the sector's value and impact, and
• compile aggregate measures of size and employment to develop a region-wide database of nonprofits.

The intent of the research is to:

• identify challenges, risks, and opportunities relating to the effectiveness and sustainability of the region's nonprofit community,
• develop tools for analyzing trends relating to the financial health of the local nonprofit sector, and
• identify potential opportunities and risks.

The goal of the study is to help nonprofits build their capacity so they move toward becoming more self-sustaining and less vulnerable to economic swings.