Public Benefit and Member Benefit Nonprofit, Voluntary Groups

The focus of this article is on how public versus member benefit nonprofit organizations differ, based largely on data from survey interviews with leaders of fifty-nine nonprofit organizations. The data show that member benefit groups differ on several measures of activity, in sources of income (dues versus fees and sales), in membership openness, and in use of boards and committees. The distinction between public and member benefit groups is meaningful but does not turn out to be overwhelming in importance.