The geography of giving: Nonprofit philanthropy, public parks and land conservation in the United States

Abstract

Faced with budget cutbacks, state and local governments struggle to adequately fund public parks and support land conservation. "Support nonprofits" are charitable organizations soliciting voluntary contributions of money, property, and service to protect parks and natural systems (Gazley, 2015). From 2000 to 2015, the number of support nonprofits increased by 188% and total nonprofit revenue increased by 263%, outpacing growth in public charities nationwide (NCCS). The rapid growth in support nonprofits prompts key questions about access and equity: Which communities benefit from support nonprofits? Do support nonprofits advocate for public land conservation? Using a novel national dataset pairing large nonprofits with the counties they serve, the article has three key findings: (1) counties in metropolitan areas with welleducated, liberal residents are more likely to have a support nonprofit fundraising for public land, and (2) there is no correlation between public funding for parks and support nonprofit presence. In addition to philanthropy,(3) counties with support nonprofits are more likely to pass ballot initiatives funding public land conservation. It is imperative that policy-makers and conservation advocates consider how nonprofit philanthropy maps on to-and augments-existing inequality in access to parks and natural resource conservation.

Conservation philanthropy: Growing the field of research and practice

“…Willse (2023) uses a national dataset to track the distribution of "support nonprofits" in the United States, which aims to supplement inadequate public funding for parks and land conservation. She finds that their distribution is uneven: counties in metropolitan areas with well-educated, more liberal residents are more likely to have support nonprofits, and those counties with support nonprofits are also more likely to pass ballot initiatives funding conservation on public land (Willse, 2023). She argues that it is imperative for policy makers and conservation activists to consider how this dynamic may impact equity and access to public land nationally.…”

“…They demonstrate how empirical research on historical and current funding patterns can inform reflection and future decision-making about allocating funding. Willse (2023) uses a national dataset to track the distribution of "support nonprofits" in the United States, which aims to supplement inadequate public funding for parks and land conservation. She finds that their distribution is uneven: counties in metropolitan areas with well-educated, more liberal residents are more likely to have support nonprofits, and those counties with support nonprofits are also more likely to pass ballot initiatives funding conservation on public land (Willse, 2023).…”