Nonprofit Alliance – Research

This study examines how nonprofits function as an essential part of the Athens regional economy by documenting their employment footprint, the flow of revenues into Clarke and Oconee counties, the scale of services they provide, and the risks communities face when nonprofit funding erodes. Using a participatory action research approach, the project integrates IRS 990 data with a new survey that gathers information not captured in public filings—such as detailed revenue breakdowns, staffing, service reach, and recent funding instability—to present a comprehensive picture of how nonprofits strengthen Athens socially and economically. The resulting report will give community leaders, funders, and policymakers a clear, data-driven understanding of the sector’s economic value and the consequences of undermining it.

The Nonprofit Employee Benefits Study offers one of the clearest pictures to date of how Georgia nonprofits support their employees—and where gaps in pay, benefits, and workplace policies are shaping turnover and burnout. The first wave of the study, conducted in 2024, includes responses from 260 employees across 126 organizations and examines everything from health and retirement benefits to job satisfaction, burnout, and reasons employees consider leaving. The full report and presentation from the 2024 wave are available for download here on our website.

Building on this foundation, we are preparing to launch a second wave of the survey in early 2026. This next round will allow nonprofits and policymakers to track changes over time, understand emerging workforce pressures, and identify which interventions are making a real difference in recruitment, retention, and organizational well-being.

To deepen the quantitative findings, the Alliance has also been conducting a series of focus groups across the state to collect qualitative insights on employee benefits, burnout, and workplace experiences—both from nonprofit leaders and frontline employees. Sessions have already been held in Athens, Savannah, Moultrie, Tifton, and Dublin, with Atlanta planned next. These conversations surface lived experiences behind the numbers and help ensure that our recommendations reflect the realities of nonprofits of all sizes, missions, and regions.

Read the full study

This study explores how Athens nonprofits understand and experience “service overlap,” moving beyond the common assumption that overlap automatically signals duplication or inefficiency. Through interviews with nonprofit leaders, the project investigates when overlap enhances client access, system resilience, and innovation—and when, instead, it creates friction or gaps. By focusing on lived experience and client impact, the study seeks to identify the conditions under which coordinated support strengthens the local nonprofit ecosystem and to surface practical strategies for enabling the “good kind” of overlap that improves outcomes, especially during crises or resource shortages.

In response to requests by local Athens nonprofits at community meetings, the Alliance initiated a survey of Athens nonprofit executive directors. The resulting report, published in 2022, includes data from 41 nonprofits with data regarding the following:
topics:.
• broad organizational information about participating nonprofits.
• more specific organizational elements including worker classification and a budget breakdown.
• information about the executive directors, their salaries, benefits, and work experience.
• COVID-19’s impact on these nonprofit organizations, highlighting the differing financial, programmatic, and governance impacts of the pandemic.
The report was widely distributed in the Athens area to inform boards and executive directors of the range of compensation and benefits in the Athens area, inspire conversation for nonprofit leaders, and establish area standards for small and large organizations.