We examine whether nonprofit organizations understate fundraising expenses in their publicly available financial statements. A large body of anecdotal evidence notes that an inexplicable number of nonprofits report zero fundraising expenses. We provide empirical evidence that the zero...

This paper examines how nonprofit organizations respond to incentives to manage their publicly available financial information. Prior research identifies two operating ratios donors commonly use to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of nonprofits (i.e., the program service ratio, defined...

Although nonprofit is often considered to be synonymous with tax-exempt, many nonprofit organizations earn revenues from unrelated taxable activities, and on average these taxable activities generate $1.5 million in revenues. Policymakers have expressed concern that the pursuit of unrelated...

Abstract: Various users rely on nonprofit financial information for investing, contracting, and regulating decisions. The ratio of reported charitable to total expenses is one of the most widely used metrics to measure nonprofit performance. Prior research shows that many nonprofit organizations...

Prior research finds that donors reward nonprofits that report larger program ratios with more donations and that managers overstate these ratios, ostensibly to attract donations. We examine how donors react to inflated ratios. We find that the average donor discounts ratios that are inflated by...

Prior research indicates that donations respond to price and income effects as well as to alternative sources of nonprofit financing. Using a database of confidential nonprofit tax returns, we examine the effects of nonprofits' taxable activities on the supply of donations. We find that each...

The topic of nonprofit commercialization has received increased attention from various groups including donors, regulators, and researchers. Perhaps the most commercial of all activities undertaken by nonprofits are those considered to be so far removed from an organization's exempt mission that...

Nonprofit organizations operate taxable activities in two general ways: as unrelated businesses operated by the nonprofit or through controlled subsidiaries. Prior research and regulatory attention has focused on unrelated business activities, although taxable subsidiaries generate at least as...

Prior research finds that private donations are sensitive to price and income effects as well as alternative sources of nonprofit financing (i.e., government grants and general commercial sales). Using a database of confidential nonprofit tax returns, we conduct the first analysis of the effect...

Prior research indicates that donations respond to price and income effects as well as to alternative sources of nonprofit financing. Using a database of confidential nonprofit tax returns, we examine the effects of nonprofits' taxable activities on the supply of donations. We find that each...