A Federal Researcher Turns to the Nonprofit World

After decades of crunching numbers for the federal government, Gordon W. Green will bring his love of statistics and their uses to the nonprofit world. As the new vice president of research at Independent Sector, Mr. Green will attempt to boil down a jumble of figures into a better understanding of charities and what they do.

“I see it as a personal challenge to answer the question, ‘How do we get information out there to people?’” says Mr. Green, who adds that he would like to see everyday volunteers and donors become regular readers of reports that Independent Sector will release during his tenure. “My job will be to make people understand the importance of nonprofit groups and the importance of their personal involvement in them.”

Mr. Green comes to Independent Sector, a coalition of more than 700 nonprofit groups, foundations, and corporate donors, in Washington, from the U.S. Census Bureau, where he collected and analyzed population information from surveys filled out by state and local governments, and, before that, helped compile income and poverty statistics. He also provided statistical analysis to Congress and the White House during his 29 years with the bureau.

His strong belief in using information to help educate the public reflects a longstanding interest in teaching and encouraging good study habits in students, both young and old. Mr. Green taught courses in study skills to his workmates at the Census Bureau and has published several books on developing solid study habits. He has volunteered time to give speeches to groups on the subject.

“Speaking to groups all those years encouraged me to get socially involved and to help people in as direct a way as I can,” says Mr. Green. “With the books, I can reach people. But with seminars, I can reach them directly, which means I can pass on my passion for education.”

As the chief of Independent Sector’s research operations, Mr. Green says he hopes to add more government information resources to the organization’s database and learn how to use information sources already in use to better effect.

Mr. Green, 55, replaces Susan Saxon-Harrold, who resigned last year. In an interview, Mr. Green spoke about his new position.

What unanswered questions about the nonprofit world do you find most intriguing?

One area that I’d like to look at is the demographic characteristics of volunteering and giving. The demography of the United States has changed a lot in terms of age. We need to look at teenagers more and at the charitable activities they’re involved in. They’re the future of philanthropy, so we need to learn a lot about them.

Another group we need to look at is the older generation. Soon, there will be 75 million baby boomers entering their retirement years. There are a lot of implications as to what kinds of charities they’re interested in, the volunteer work they’ll want to do, and the services they think they’ll need in old age.

The third group I’d like to look into is the foreign-born population in the United States, which is growing rapidly. What kind of giving do they do? We know a lot of money flows back to their relatives back home. What happens when they’ve been here for a longer time? Do they get more involved in domestic charities?

We also need to look into the whole idea of nonprofit performance measures, not just outputs, but outcomes. We need to look at how successful organizations are at carrying out their missions. Ultimately, what it comes down to is, are nonprofit groups providing the services that meet the needs of their constituents? You have to find out what those needs are. You talk to the customers or clients themselves.

Finally, I’d like to look at the connection between using the Internet and giving. Part of the conventional wisdom is that if you personally go to someone and ask him or her for a gift, you’re more likely to get it. But there seem to be more people who are interested in giving via the Internet. It’d be interesting to see if that is a growing phenomenon over time.

How would you rate the quality of research currently available on the nonprofit world?

From what I’ve seen, some of it is quite good. I think we need to get more consistency. I’ve heard that for other sectors of the economy, it’s easier to get information from people regularly. To some degree, there are a lack of reference points because research hasn’t been as regular in the nonprofit world as it has been elsewhere.

What government information sources do you plan to tap in your new job?

The Single Audit Clearinghouse is a public database that lists any group that gets $300,000 or more in federal government grants. Those groups each have to file with the government an audit, which then goes into this rich database. It could be used as a supplement to what Independent Sector already uses to find out what groups get public-sector money and how they use it. If you get into the audits themselves, you might find interesting info on expenditures. The Federal Assistance Award Data System, which has information on government grants as a function of total government expenditures, is another potentially rich source.

Will your experience as a numbers guy with the government translate well into the sometimes-secretive nonprofit world?

What I bring from the government world is an understanding about collecting data. Everything we collected in the governments division is voluntary, because we’re dealing with sovereign governments. So, I’ve faced some of those challenges, getting sources of information — in this case, governments — to comply so we can get as complete an accounting as possible. That will be a valuable skill in my new job.

What should a research person bring to the table for Independent Sector?

People need to have a better understanding of what nonprofit groups do. I think there’s a natural interest in this, as evidenced by all the volunteerism. An Independent Sector researcher should work toward helping to create that understanding. Part of the challenge is to make those connections and to show people how they can get involved and how they can get rewards from doing it.

What do you hope to accomplish by the time you leave Independent Sector?

I’ve spent 34 years total in the federal service. I basically decided I wanted another career. This job interested me because I’ve spent my life analyzing the public and private sectors. This is the third leg of the stool — the independent sector. As I look at what I can do in my second career and what kind of contribution I can make, I think if I can come up with research for the general public that gets them interested and personally involved, it would help make things better for all of us. I’m not sure the public has a good understanding of what this sector does. I hope to change that.

ABOUT GORDON W. GREEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF RESEARCH, INDEPENDENT SECTOR

Education: Earned a bachelors degree in economics from the University of Maryland at College Park, and master’s and doctoral degrees (also in economics) from George Washington University.

Previous employment: Spent the last 12 years as the chief of the governments division of the U.S. Census Bureau, where he helped collect and analyze information on 90,000 state and local governments, worked to deliver data through the Internet, and provided analysis to Congress. Previously, Mr. Green worked for 17 years in two other branches of the Census Bureau, where he collected poverty and income statistics. Early in his career, he worked at the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Books he has written: Mr. Green has written five books, four on study habits for children and another on improving employees’ work performance. Getting Straight A’s (Kensington Press) has sold 400,000 copies and has been translated into three languages. His latest book, How to Get Straight A’s in School and Still Have a Good Time (Forge Books), was released in 1999.

Charitable interests: Mr. Green gives free seminars on study skills to public and nonprofit schools, community groups, and religious groups. He also donates to the combined federal campaign, the federal government’s charity drive.