The need for a national typology of the US non-profit sector has long been recognised. A typology which could better define and describe the variety and diversity of non-profit organisations by type or major function will serve numerous research and public policy uses. This article describes the essential elements of the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE), developed over almost a decade after extensive consultation with agencies in the non-profit sector and the United States government. The article reports an initial analysis of the classification of nearly one million non-profit organisations in the US, and comparisons are made with earlier estimates in Dimensions of the Independent Sector. Based on these findings, changes are proposed to this biennial statistical profile of the US non-profit sector. The importance of developing national typologies of non-profit organisations is discussed as a basis for comparative international research.

A cohort of twenty British national voluntary agencies serving handicapped people was studied in 1976 and again in 1989 after a decade of major shifts in public policy. Changes and continuities were identified in income, structure, governance, management, programme, interorganisation relations and advocacy. A consistent pattern of growth, bureaucratisation and professionalisation was found, with relatively little change in the dominant mode of financing, statutory or philanthropic. A three-stage model is proposed to describe the development of British voluntary agencies since the 1970s, and some of the organisational implications of current policies for the 1990s are noted.

This paper surveys 24 studies, appearing since Clotfelter's (1985) book, which estimate the influence of tax incentives on personal donations in three countries. Studies employ new surveys, experimental data, and data corrected for tax evasion. Newly available panel data sets obtain conclusions which strongly challenge the traditional consensus that tax incentives are a powerful stimulus to giving. The paper also surveys theoretical developments. In particular, the traditional test for efficiency (price elasticity exceeding unity) is not generally appropriate.

Using five-year panel data, this study examines the various dimensions of the variability of individual charitable contributions at all income levels: the variation in the generosity of individuals and the variability of the individuals’ giving over a five-year period. The study finds considerable variability of both kinds. One finding is that the variability of generosity is substantially greater at the higher income levels. Another finding is that variability is substantially less pronounced by observing a five-year period of an individual's generosity than by observing annual behaviour. One consequence is that a relatively small proportion of donors account for a large proportion of total giving. The popular reputation of the wealthy for generosity is actually due to the exceptional generosity of a minority rather than widespread generosity among the wealthy. Differences in generosity and variability of giving over time are both more pronounced among high-income donors. Results of the study have implications for research on charitable giving, for predicting the effects of tax policy changes on giving, and for fund-raising.

Accurate comparison of the social welfare systems operating in the twelve countries of the European Community is inhibited by lack of information about the voluntary or ‘non-governmental’ organisations which form an important element in those systems. This paper summarises available information about the scale and scope of voluntary organisations, and attempts to set them in the context of current policy debates. The changing nature of the family in Europe, the development of ‘mixed economies’ in the provision of welfare, the functions of NGOs as employers and organisers of volunteering, the future of NGOs after 1992, and in the context of a steadily more open Europe are some of the themes which are preoccupying voluntary organisations in most countries of the Community. The paper refers to the inadequacy of most data on NGOs at national level and to the consequent impossibility of constructing valid cross-national comparisons.