Community factors and local governments’ hazard mitigation efforts: Focusing on nonprofit organizations

Abstract

Even though the role of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in a disaster management context has been well-studied, scholars have little understanding of NPOs' engagement in a relationship with local governments, particularly during the hazard mitigation stage. Based on existing studies, we focus on the prominence of local nonprofit organizations in influencing local governments' hazard mitigation efforts along with other community characteristics. By analyzing panel data on the U.S. counties that experienced presidentially declared disasters, we found that different types of NPOs may affect local governments' hazard mitigation efforts in different ways. While counties with a greater number of public safety and faith-based NPOs are more likely to participate in the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP), civil rights NPOs are negatively associated with the county's HMGP participation. This study offers empirical evidence of the significant influence of NPOs on local governments' hazard mitigation efforts and provides important implications related to how local governments can facilitate community-based hazard mitigation efforts in a relationship with NPOs.