Despite their smaller size, nonprofits that engage in activities that the Foundation supports tend to be fiscally healthier than other groups in Summit County. Roughly 72 percent of groups in the seven program areas, compared with 68 percent of the remainder of the community-based sector, reported positive balance sheets in which revenues exceeded expenses at the close of 1998. This finding suggests that groups in the program areas may be slightly better positioned to withstand unexpected shocks in their funding streams than other nonprofits in the county. The ability of nonprofits to positively impact and improve local communities is linked in part to their ability to reach local residents. Because most nonprofits provide programs at fixed locations, these sites need to be known by residents and within a reasonable distance to travel.
Secular nonprofits are more likely than congregations to be sited in low-income neighborhoods.
While congregations are spread widely across Summit County, secular nonprofit providers are more frequently located in the central city, which has a large concentration of high poverty areas. The wider geographic distribution of faith-related organizations is not surprising given that many congregations locate in areas that are easily accessible to their members. Groups that are of primary interest to the Foundation are more likely than other nonprofits to be sited where the need in Summit County is greatest. More than one in three program-related nonprofits are located in areas of high poverty, compared with about one in five of the remaining organizations. This finding reveals the rich array of institutions that can be drawn upon by public officials, grantmakers and local residents to build community capacity in many of the highly distressed neighborhoods of Summit County.