Does Size Really Matter? Explaining the Determinants of Nonprofit Organizations’ Success in Obtaining Federal Grants

Nonprofit organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have worked for decades to provide services to traditionally underserved communities domestically and abroad. These organizations offer specialized care to recipients in various sectors to provide services beyond the government's ability. These organizations vary in size, area of focus, populations served, approach to service, and funding sources. In recent decades, the presence of NGOs in international development efforts has grown largely and taken up a wide range of development roles such as disaster relief, human rights work, peace mediation, economic development, etc. (Lewis and Opoku-Mensha 2006). The services of these organizations are largely marked by their presence in certain communities and the relationships and trust they are able to cultivate since they do not operate as a part of the government. This study seeks to empirically analyze the organizational characteristics of faith based and secular organizations based domestically that engage in international development work, and assessing the determinants of success in receiving a government grant. This paper presents data gathered from a national survey of nonprofits that partake in international development work in various sectors. The organizations in this survey vary in size, mission, focus, religious affiliation, and region of work. The analysis seeks to use key organizational traits as a way to determine which organizations will have higher success in receiving grants from the goverment