Cornerstones of Community: Highlights of the National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations

Nonprofit and voluntary organizations, an important element of Canadian society, often address needs and interests of citizens that governments and the private sector do not. Although the presence of these organizations is felt in virtually every community, they have not been studied extensively. We have little knowledge of their numbers, their contributions, or the resources they require to fulfill their missions.

The information collected by the National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations (NSNVO) is essential for several reasons. It will help address concerns that the potential social, economic and cultural contributions of these organizations to Canadian communities are not being fully realized and recognized. The research is a critical first step towards enabling evidence-based policy development by governments and others to strengthen nonprofit and voluntary organizations. It will also provide individual nonprofit and voluntary organizations with benchmark data against which to compare their experiences and characteristics. Last but not least, it will offer Canadians a richer understanding of the role that nonprofit and voluntary organizations play in their lives.

In 2003, representatives of approximately 13,000 incorporated nonprofit organizations and registered charities were surveyed by Statistics Canada. They were asked to report on the characteristics of their organizations and the factors that influenced the capacity of their organization to achieve its mission. The data presented in this report have been weighted to provide estimates for the estimated 161,000 incorporated nonprofit and voluntary organizations and registered charities in Canada. The survey provides the most comprehensive profiling of nonprofit and voluntary organizations ever undertaken in
Canada and, given its scale, it may be the most comprehensive study conducted in the world.