This dissertation is comprised of three papers related to nonprofit market structure and its consequences. I begin with an essay that examines how the recent boom of nonprofit organizations affects giving using the context of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). I find that the nonprofit boom has not increased donations to nonprofit organizations. Since a fixed amount of charitable resources is split among more organizations, the average nonprofit receives less funding as the number of organizations grows. The second paper proposes a new definition of nonprofit markets based on individual-level donor behavior and donor-nonprofit network ties. Notably, the new market definition predicts donor substitution among organizations 58% more accurately than the standard nonprofit market definition based on an organization’s subsector and geographic location. The CFC data and this donor-based market definition are also used to examine an important nonprofit policy issue—the relationship between market concentration and nonprofit spending on overhead. In the final essay, I study one of the processes by which competition in the CFC has increased over time—changes in the structure of government contracts. I examine whether fewer, but larger, contracts change performance. I find that contract consolidation does not significantly improve performance. Furthermore, I find no evidence that economies of scale exist in workplace giving.
","abstract_html":"<p>This dissertation is comprised of three papers related to nonprofit market structure and its consequences. I begin with an essay that examines how the recent boom of nonprofit organizations affects giving using the context of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). I find that the nonprofit boom has not increased donations to nonprofit organizations. Since a fixed amount of charitable resources is split among more organizations, the average nonprofit receives less funding as the number of organizations grows. The second paper proposes a new definition of nonprofit markets based on individual-level donor behavior and donor-nonprofit network ties. Notably, the new market definition predicts donor substitution among organizations 58% more accurately than the standard nonprofit market definition based on an organization’s subsector and geographic location. The CFC data and this donor-based market definition are also used to examine an important nonprofit policy issue—the relationship between market concentration and nonprofit spending on overhead. In the final essay, I study one of the processes by which competition in the CFC has increased over time—changes in the structure of government contracts. I examine whether fewer, but larger, contracts change performance. I find that contract consolidation does not significantly improve performance. Furthermore, I find no evidence that economies of scale exist in workplace giving.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Vance-McMullen, Danielle"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Clotfelter, Charles"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017","date_published":"2017","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:06:59Z","subjects":["Economics","Public policy","Competition","Contracting","Markets","Nonprofit organizaitons","Nonprofits","Workplace giving"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/10161/16252","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Clotfelter, Charles"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Vance-McMullen, Danielle"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2018-03-20T17:53:42Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-08-29T08:17:07Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2017"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Economics","Public policy","Competition","Contracting","Markets","Nonprofit organizaitons","Nonprofits","Workplace giving"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/10161/16252"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This dissertation is comprised of three papers related to nonprofit market structure and its consequences. I begin with an essay that examines how the recent boom of nonprofit organizations affects giving using the context of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). I find that the nonprofit boom has not increased donations to nonprofit organizations. Since a fixed amount of charitable resources is split among more organizations, the average nonprofit receives less funding as the number of organizations grows. The second paper proposes a new definition of nonprofit markets based on individual-level donor behavior and donor-nonprofit network ties. Notably, the new market definition predicts donor substitution among organizations 58% more accurately than the standard nonprofit market definition based on an organization’s subsector and geographic location. The CFC data and this donor-based market definition are also used to examine an important nonprofit policy issue—the relationship between market concentration and nonprofit spending on overhead. In the final essay, I study one of the processes by which competition in the CFC has increased over time—changes in the structure of government contracts. I examine whether fewer, but larger, contracts change performance. I find that contract consolidation does not significantly improve performance. Furthermore, I find no evidence that economies of scale exist in workplace giving.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Nonprofit Market Structure and Its Consequences"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Clotfelter, Charles"],"dc:creator":["Vance-McMullen, Danielle"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2018-03-20T17:53:42Z"],"dc:date.available":["2019-08-29T08:17:07Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2017"],"dc:description.abstract":["This dissertation is comprised of three papers related to nonprofit market structure and its consequences. I begin with an essay that examines how the recent boom of nonprofit organizations affects giving using the context of the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). I find that the nonprofit boom has not increased donations to nonprofit organizations. Since a fixed amount of charitable resources is split among more organizations, the average nonprofit receives less funding as the number of organizations grows. The second paper proposes a new definition of nonprofit markets based on individual-level donor behavior and donor-nonprofit network ties. Notably, the new market definition predicts donor substitution among organizations 58% more accurately than the standard nonprofit market definition based on an organization’s subsector and geographic location. The CFC data and this donor-based market definition are also used to examine an important nonprofit policy issue—the relationship between market concentration and nonprofit spending on overhead. In the final essay, I study one of the processes by which competition in the CFC has increased over time—changes in the structure of government contracts. I examine whether fewer, but larger, contracts change performance. I find that contract consolidation does not significantly improve performance. Furthermore, I find no evidence that economies of scale exist in workplace giving.
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