Civic & Social Organizations
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 23,900 civic and social organizations in the US promote the civic and social interests of members. The industry includes a wide range of organizations, including alumni groups, booster clubs, fraternal associations, scouting organizations, PTAs, fraternities and sororities, student associations, and veteran’s organizations. Civic and social groups operate as non-profit organizations and are exempt from federal income taxes.
Membership Affected by Demographic Trends
Because most civic and social groups operate locally, demographic trends in a particular market can greatly affect membership.
Reliance on Contributions
Contributions, gifts, and grants account for about 26% of industry revenue and are the single largest source of funding for civic and social organizations.
Industry size & Structure
A typical civic or social organization operates out of a single location, employs about 12-13 workers, and generates $864,000 annually.
- The civic and social organization industry consists of 23,900 organizations that employ 317,200 workers and generate about $20 billion annually.
- The industry includes a wide range of organizations, including alumni groups, booster clubs, fraternal associations, scouting organizations, PTAs, fraternities and sororities, student associations, and veteran's organizations.
- The industry is highly fragmented; the 50 largest organizations account for just over 15% of industry revenue.
- Large organizations include Freemasons, Boy Scouts, American Legion, and the YMCA.
- A vast majority of civic and social organizations are nonprofit.
Industry Forecast
Civic & Social Organizations Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Mar 19, 2024 - Weak Revenue Growth Expected
- Civic and social organization industry sales are forecast to grow at a 0.52% compounded annual rate from 2022 to 2027, slower than the growth of the overall economy, according to Inforum and the Interindustry Economic Research Fund, Inc. Civic and social organizations generate revenue primarily through membership fees, contributions, gifts, grants, and other fundraising programs. Industry employment increased significantly during 2023 while average wages for nonsupervisory employees increased moderately, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
- The formal US volunteering rate dropped seven percentage points — from 30% in 2019 to 23% in 2021, according to AmeriCorps. It was the largest change since AmeriCorps and the US Census began collecting this data in 2002. Utah; Wyoming; Minnesota; Maine; and Washington, DC had the highest formal volunteering rates in 2021.
- Forecasters expect the economy to grow 1.3% in 2024, down from a projected 2.4% in 2023 but above their 0.7% estimate in July, according to a December 2023 survey by Wolters Kluwer Blue Chip Economic Indicators. Slower GDP growth may negatively impact donor capability to give. Meager gains in the first half of 2024 should give way to stronger output by fall as the Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates further, forecasters say. GDP growth of just under 2% is far from robust but it would be close to the 2% average in the decade before the pandemic. The early-January 2024 3.7% unemployment rate, modestly above a 50-year low, is projected to increase to 4.2% by the end of 2024, well below economists’ 4.8% estimate a year earlier.
- Limited time is the biggest barrier to volunteering, with personal family obligations (22%) and work demands (25%) cited by respondents to an American Association of Retired Persons survey as the most frequent hindrances. Adults 65 and older give the most time, spending on average 9.6 hours a month. But the youngest adults (18–34) give nearly as much time, averaging 8.9 hours a month. More than half of adults (52%) were very or somewhat interested in volunteering from home. About 52% of adults were interested in volunteering small increments of time.
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