Meeting places with a conference room are hard to find. We had two evening meetings a month, and the price of meals was escalating. The impact of the civic clubs' decline is tougher to measure. For instance, the number of new nonprofit organizations in Charleston, Berkeley and Dorchester counties has mushroomed in the last five years, according to filings with the S.C. secretary of state's office. Burkett said many new groups have formed to advocate for their neighborhoods or subdivisions.
People are very focused on their neighborhood.
You've got port groups and neighborhood associations. Kerrigan noted the number of nonprofits nationwide has grown from about 500,000 five years ago to more than 1 million today. There used to be three stations. Now there are 140 stations. And people are still willing to participate, only in different ways.