This new study examines whether voluntary financial contributions to public education have increased over time and, if so, whether these donations vary by district size and other characteristics. Voluntary contributions are those awarded by charitable school foundations, local endowments, booster clubs, parent-teacher associations, and alumni associations—so these are local dollars in addition to the local revenues generated largely by property taxes. Analysts examine voluntary contributions to public schools from 1995 through 2010, relying on Form 990 filings that are captured in the Guidestar nonprofit database, which includes expenditure reports for nonprofits with annual revenues totaling $25,000 or more. These data were then linked with mapping data to match the nonprofit to the corresponding school district, including data about district revenues and demographics. The final sample included over 13,000 non-profits that supported schools and/or districts. There are four key findings. First, PTAs comprise most of the nonprofits (70 percent), while local foundations comprise only 13 percent. And among all donors, 93 percent of them give to district schools, while only 1.3 percent support charter schools. Second, the number of nonprofits supporting schools has increased 230 percent, from over 3,400 in 1995 to nearly 12,000 in 2010. Third, nonprofit revenues increased almost 350 percent, from $197 million in 1995 to $880 million in 2010. Nationwide, per-pupil voluntary contributions jumped along with it, going from $3.67 in 1995 to $20.31 in 2010. Moreover, if you hone in on those districts that have at least one non-profit supporting them, we see that the voluntary giving grew from $8.02 per pupil in 1995 to $28.38 in 2010. Still, these contributions are a drop in the bucket when you recognize that public schools spent an average of $10,615 per student in 2010. That said, the fourth and final key point is that certain larger districts have a higher likelihood of receiving nonprofit contributions—those with higher property tax revenues per pupil; more educated and wealthy residents; lower unemployment; and lower proportions of kids who are non-US citizens, are living in poverty, or reside in female-headed households. In other words, nonprofits enhance spending in districts that already receive significantly larger per-pupil revenues, which isn’t terribly surprising. After all, the wealth is greater in these districts. And who wants to tell PTAs that they can’t raise extra money for their kids’ schools?
SOURCE: Ashlyn Aiko Nelson and Beth Gazley, "The Rise of School-Supporting Nonprofits," Association for Education Finance and Policy (Feburary 2014).
