The "Nonprofitization" of Social Services

"A new article by the Rockefeler Institute of Government's Roundtable on Religion and Welfare Policy reports on Congressional consideration of tax incentives for charitable giving, amidst new information about the federal government's increasing reliance on such charitable groups to deliver health care, education, and human services in America. That increase was reflected in more federal money to nonprofit organizations and a growth in the number of public charities, according to a study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress. Researchers estimated that federal money to nonprofit organizations increased more than 230 percent from 1980 to 2004, when adjusted for inflation. And the number of registered public charities has grown more than 30 percent since 2000 from about 646,000 to 851,000. The new data confirm trends toward the "nonprofitization" of social services, the subject of research at the Rockefeller Institute by Richard Nathan and others."