Publications on Advocacy Organizations

This brief profiles community-based nonprofits in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that are helping newcomers adjust to their new social and political environment, while affirming their cultural identities. The brief focuses on nonprofit groups that serve Asian, Middle Eastern and African populations and examines the characteristics of these organizations in terms of their number, size, location, and scope of activities. The findings provide a unique picture of the community-based resources that are helping immigrants incorporate into American life.

Over the past decade the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area has become increasingly diverse, driven in large part by the growth of the Latino population. By 2006, almost 610,000 Latinos lived in the region. Today's immigrants, like those before them, contribute to the development of civil society organizations and rely on them for services and activities. Yet little is known about these organizations and the ways they help newcomers build and engage in civil society. This brief provides an overview of nonprofits and religious congregations in the Washington, D.C. region that focus on providing services and support to the Latino population.

America's nonprofit sector continues to grow faster than its business sector or its government. The Nonprofit Almanac 2008 presents data on nonprofits' place in the national economy and trends in wages, employment, private giving, volunteering and finances. The tables and graphics will give scholars, practitioners, and policymakers the data they need at a glance, while the textual analysis will help them plan for the future.

This working paper offers a descriptive analysis of the Latino nonprofit sector in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. It examines the extent to which Latino nonprofits are equipped to address the needs of a rapidly growing Latino population. The study finds that both nonprofit organizations and religious congregations that primarily serve Latinos offer a wide range of services. Many of these groups are located in the suburbs. While Latino nonprofits constitute a significant economic presence in the region, the majority of organizations remain small. Data on nonprofits are drawn from the National Center for Charitable Statistics, and data on churches were collected by telephone survey.

As the nonprofit sector's role providing services and programs grows, the relationship between tax-exempt organizations and government becomes more complex. At times adversarial and at times symbiotic, the dual forces of government oversight and nonprofit pressure can have wide-ranging implications for public policy. Nonprofits and Government: Collaboration and Conflict, 2nd edition, edited by Elizabeth T. Boris and C. Eugene Steuerle, offers a framework to assess the influences on the nonprofit sector and its relations with government.