Organizational characteristics and funding environments: A study of a population of united way-affiliated nonprofits

This study examines a population of United Way-affiliated nonprofit organiz ations in Massachusetts (1) to test hypotheses generated by previous resear ch on relationships between government funding and specific nonprofit organ izational characteristics, (2) to compare differences in organizational cha racteristics between nonprofits receiving higher percentages of revenues Fr om the United Way and from government sources, and (3) to explore associati ons between government funding and United Way and underexamined characteris tics, including use of commercial income and racial diversity of organizati onal membership. The study supports previous research on the relationship b etween government funding and nonprofit characteristics, with one notable e xception-less administrative complexity was associated with higher percenta ges of government funding. The study also finds differences in organization al characteristics between nonprofits with higher proportions of government funding and chose with higher percentages of United Way funding, including organization size, number of board members, administrative complexity, use of volunteers, and the racial diversity of boards, staff and volunteers.