Do Antipoverty Nonprofits Locate Where People Need Them? Evidence From a Spatial Analysis of Phoenix

Abstract

This work explores the spatial connections between nonprofit organizations that have an antipoverty focus and poor residents in the greater Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area. Substantial population and service growth occurred in Phoenix between 1990 and 2000, with almost twice the number of organizations and almost three times the amount of expenditures in 2000 than in 1990. Empirical evidence supports that these nonprofits locate in areas of greater need, but evidence that those organizations affect neighborhood poverty is weak, suggesting that the government should not retract services and that further nonprofit organizational growth may be necessary. The comprehensive measure of accessibility and two-way causal analysis are proposed for future replication.