Civic Opportunity Table

  • Civic opportunity per capita: A normalized composite score representing the density of civic opportunity in a county. For each organization, we calculate the average of four binary indicators: Membership, Volunteer, Public Events, and Take Civic or Political Action (each scored 0 or 1). These are averaged to produce a score between 0 and 1 per organization. We then sum these scores across all organizations in a county, and normalize the total per 100,000 residents.

    • Example: If the sum of these averaged scores across all organizations in a county is 1,000, and the county population is 1,000,000, then:
      1,000 ÷ 1,000,000 × 100,000 = 100
      That means the county has a civic opportunity score of 100 per 100,000 residents.

  • Civic opportunity index: A simplified version of the score above, divided into five bins (quintiles).

    • 1 = lowest civic opportunity, 5 = highest.

  • Percentile: National percentile of the civic opportunity per capita score.

    • Example: A county with a score of 125 that ranks in the top 5% of all counties would be labeled as “Top 5%”.

  • State Rank: Rank of the county within its state by civic opportunity score per capita.

  • National Rank: Rank of the county across all U.S. counties by civic opportunity score per capita.

  • Civic Opportunity Orgs: Count of organizations tagged as offering at least one type of civic opportunity.

  • Total Nonprofits: Total number of nonprofit organizations in the county.

Subtypes of Civic Opportunity Organizations

  • Membership N: Organizations offering membership opportunities.
  • Volunteer N: Organizations offering volunteer opportunities.
  • Events N: Organizations offering public event opportunities.
  • Take Action N: Organizations offering civic or political action opportunities.

Civic Opportunity Organizational Type Breakdown (% of all civic opportunity organizations in the county)

  • Religious %, Social & Fraternal %, Youth %, Unions %, Healthcare %, Economic %,
    Education %, Research & Think Tank %, Hobby & Sports %, Community %,
    Foundations %, Professional %, Arts & Cultural %, Housing %, Political %

  • Each percentage represents the share of that organization type among all civic opportunity organizations in the county.

  • Example: If a county has 100 civic opportunity organizations, and 12 of them are classified as “Religious,” the Religious % would be 12%.

Category Description Examples
Arts & Cultural Arts organizations and cultural organizations, including those that protect community heritage BANGOR SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, BRICK STORE MUSEUM, CHESAPEAKE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY
Community Organizations focused on directly helping people in their community and providing community services WOMENS COMMUNITY CENTER, FAMILY RESOURCE CENTER OF NORTHWEST OHIO, PELLA COMMUNITY FOOD SHELF
Economic Organizations directly promoting economic improvement in an area FALLS CITY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, NEW ALBANY URBAN ENTERPRISE ZONE, MAIN STREET CORRIDOR DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Education Schools, universities, organizations that support schools, and those that provide direct education services JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, THOMPSON SCHOOL PTO, LITTLE RASCALS PRESCHOOL
Foundations Organizations focused on granting money or scholarships to others ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION, BVS FAMILY FOUNDATION
Healthcare Organizations that directly deliver care or support healthcare delivery ST MARYS REGIONAL HEALTH CENTER, SOUTHERN TIER HEALTH CARE SYSTEM INC, CANCER RESOURCES FOR ELKHART COUNTY INC
Hobby & Sports Shared interest and sports organizations GARDEN CLUB OF KENTUCKY INC, LAGUNA YOUTH BASEBALL LEAGUE, VILLA PARK BOXING CLUB
Housing Organizations that provide or manage housing BELLE APARTMENTS HOUSING DEVELOPMENT FUND CORPORATION, CAMPUS TOWERS SENIOR LIVING INC, HABITAT FOR HUMANITY INTERNATIONAL INC
Political Civic participation and political organizations involved in decision-making or advocacy AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS, ARIZONA ADVOCACY NETWORK
Professional Professional societies and industry groups NATIONAL INDEPENDENT FLAG DEALERS ASSOCIATION, BEEFMASTER BREEDERS CATTLEWOMEN, AMERICAN CANCER ASSOCIATION
Religious Religious institutions CROSSROADS CHRISTIAN CHURCH, NEW SPRINGS CHURCH, MANASSAS MOSQUE
Research & Think Tank Think tanks and research groups SOCIETY FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF MATERIAL AND PROCESS ENGINEERING, INSTITUTE FOR CONSERVATION ADVOCACY RESEARCH AND EDUCATION, AMERICAN COUNCIL FOR CAPITAL FORMATION CENTER FOR POLICY RESEARCH
Social & Fraternal Organizations that bring people together (often based on shared identity) KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS, ROTARY INTERNATIONAL, NATIONAL KAPPA KAPPA IOTA
Unions Labor unions AMERICAN FEDERATION OF STATE COUNTY & MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES, FRESNO CITY EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION, CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION
Youth Organizations focused on working with and supporting youth BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA, NEBRASKA 4-H FOUNDATION, CROSSWALK TEEN CENTER
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