The Resilient Sector: The State of Nonprofit America

Like the arteries of a living organism, nonprofit organizations carry a life force that has long been a centerpiece of American culture—a faith in the capacity of individual action to improve the quality of human life. They embody two seemingly contradictory impulses at the heart of American character: a deep-seated commitment to freedom and individual initiative and an equally fundamental realization that people live in communities and consequently have responsibilities that extend beyond themselves. Uniquely among American institutions, those in the nonprofit sector blend these competing impulses, creating a special class of entities that Alexis de Tocqueville recognized more than 175 years ago to be "more deserving of our attention" than any other part of the American experiment.

Until very recently, little headway had been made in tracking developments to the nonprofit sector systematically, in assessing the impact they are having, and in getting the results into the hands of the nonprofit practitioners, policymakers, the press, and the public at large. Lester Salamon helped close that information gap by compiling a comprehensive volume titled The State of Nonprofit America (Brookings). This book, which grew out of the larger project, provides an accessible overview of the sector to non-scholarly readers. It paints a broad and clear picture of the state of America;s nonprofit sector while identifying the changes that might be needed to promote its long-term health. The result is a concise and convincing testament to the scope, significance, and determination of America;s nonprofits.