Nonprofit Listening Post

Timely Information about Emerging Trends:  The Nonprofit Listening Post

As vital participants in the U.S. nonprofit community, orchestras contribute to the substantial public value produced by the nation’s charitable sector, and are likewise impacted by the policies and environment for nonprofits nationwide.  The League and 75 member orchestras are participants in the Nonprofit Listening Post Project, an initiative of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies.  This ambitious multi-year research project determines how a broad range of nonprofit organizations, including orchestras, are responding to crucial challenges.  Nonprofits in the fields of family, youth and elderly services, community and economic development, and arts and culture participate in the Listening Post project.  By surveying the participants and sharing the resulting findings quickly, this project spurs a more informed dialogue that encourages greater experimentation among nonprofit managers and, ultimately, more effective public policy.

View recent survey results below, and sign your orchestra up to participate in future surveys (all files in pdf format):

• What Do Nonprofits Stand For? Renewing the nonprofit value commitment  12/6/12
• Taxing the Tax Exempt Sector 4/18/11
• Recession Pressures on Nonprofit Jobs  7/14/2010
• Nonprofits, Innovation, and Performance Measurement: Separating Fact from Fiction 5/18/2010
• Escalating Pension Benefit Costs - Another Threat to Nonprofit Survival? 11/5/2009
• Health Care and Nonprofits: The Hidden Dimension of America’s Health Care Crisis 9/2/2009
• Impact of the 2007-09 Economic Recession on Nonprofit Organizations 6/29/2009
• "Shovel-Ready" but Stalled: Nonprofit Infrastructure Projects Ready for Economic Recovery Support 12/17/2009
• Nonprofit Policy Priorities for the New Administration 10/22/2008

Become a Listening Post Participant! Your orchestra’s participation adds to the nation’s understanding and approach on issues of importance to the entire nonprofit community – and also provides great benefits for your own orchestra.  Each participating orchestra receives a  customized report including comparative data with other member orchestras and non-orchestra nonprofit participants.  Your orchestra will only be required to complete three or four short surveys a year (the League is a steering committee member and advises on the topic selection process).  To sign up to be a Listening Post Participant, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.