The Racialized Nature of Nonprofit Organizations: The Current State of Research and Education

Nonprofit literature and programs have been framed within a public administration paradigm that is ostensibly race-neutral, marginalizing critical perspectives of race and racism. This study examines the extent to which nonprofit scholarship and education integrate critical racialized frameworks, drawing on Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Racialized Organizational Theory (ROT). A systematic review of 5,694 articles from leading nonprofit journals (1972–2024) revealed that only 0.26% explicitly applied a racialized theoretical framework. Survey data from nonprofit educators showed that for 53%, racism was never discussed at any point during their nonprofit academic studies. Further, only 24% were introduced to the concept of structural racism within nonprofit contexts. These findings highlight significant gaps in nonprofit education and scholarship. To address these disparities, we propose incorporating critical race perspectives into nonprofit pedagogy and research to advance racial equity.