The dilemma for small human service nonprofits: Engaging in collaborations with limited human resource capacity

Abstract

Although the topic of nonprofit collaboration has attracted much scholarly attention, few studies have focused on collaborations of small nonprofits in particular. This study examines the human resource capacity dilemma that many small human service nonprofit organizations face and its relationship to a nonprofit's collaboration efforts. Our analysis is based on 2016 online survey data from 229 small human service nonprofit organizations with annual gross receipts of less than $500,000. Descriptive results show that most of the small human service nonprofits have very few paid staff. Even so, over 90% of these small human service nonprofit organizations are involved in formal collaborations and/or informal networks. Analytical results suggest that organizations are more likely to participate in formal collaborations when they have at least one or more full‐time employees; these collaborations help organizations obtain funding and meet client needs. We discuss the implications of our findings and offer insights for small nonprofits that aim to expand service capacity through collaborations.