The National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations
(NSNVO) is the first-ever, large-scale survey of nonprofit and
voluntary organizations in Canada. The survey provides detailed
information on the size and scope of the voluntary sector in Canada,
including types of organizations, what they do, their budgets,
and numbers of paid staff and volunteers. The survey also helps
clarify the needs and challenges facing the sector by providing
data on organizations’ perceptions of their strengths and
weaknesses. The resulting research will contribute to improved
policy and program decision-making. The NSNVO is funded by Human
Resources Development Canada through the Capacity Joint Table
of the Voluntary Sector Initiative.
The two major objectives of the NSNVO project are:
- To provide a preliminary assessment of the areas where organizations
could improve their capacity to achieve their missions; and
- To collect comprehensive information about the breadth of the nonprofit
and voluntary sector in Canada, the types of organizations that make up the sector and the
services they provide.
The NSNVO was carried out by a consortium of organizations with
the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy
as the lead organization. A Research Steering Committee guided
the survey development and research.
In the initial phase of the project, a nation-wide series of consultations with nonprofit
and voluntary organizations were held in 2002 to learn about the challenges that organizations
face in trying to fulfill their missions and achieve their objectives, and the unique strengths
and capacities they possess. The results of this research, released in May 2003, are reported
in The Capacity to Serve: A Qualitative Study of the
Challenges Facing Canada's Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations.
The second phase of the project involved a national survey of approximately 13,000 nonprofit
and voluntary organizations. The survey was conducted in the Spring of 2003 by Statistics
Canada on behalf of the NSNVO consortium. A report, Cornerstones
of Community: Highlights from the National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations
was released on September 20, 2004.
The Capacity Joint Table
Advisory Committee supports a range of research initiatives
on the voluntary sector. The National Survey of Nonprofit and
Voluntary Organizations is one of three research and information
projects focusing on profiling the size, scope, and contributions
of the voluntary sector to Canadian society. The two other projects
are the Johns Hopkins Comparative
Non-profit Project and the National Survey
of Giving, Volunteering and Participating.
For further information about the NSNVO, please visit www.nonprofitscan.ca.
