Funding the Future: How Size, Revenue, and Community Shape Retirement Benefits in Nonprofits

The nonprofit sector provides roughly one in ten jobs in the United States. Yet retirement benefits remain uneven and often inadequate compared to those in the public and private sectors. This article examines disparities in nonprofit access to retirement plans and analyzes how organizational and community characteristics shape retirement benefit provision. The study uses panel regression approaches with data from the NCCS Core PC files and the U.S. Census. The analysis shows that most nonprofits do not offer retirement plans, and those that do often contribute only minimally. Larger organizations and those with higher levels of donative revenue are more likely to offer and contribute to retirement plans. By contrast, the arts and humanities nonprofits and nonprofits in communities with lower educational attainment are significantly less likely to do so. Racial and geographic disparities also persist. Nonprofits in whiter communities are more likely to offer plans, though not necessarily at higher contribution levels. These findings underscore the need for targeted policy and philanthropic interventions. Supporting under-resourced organizations in providing competitive retirement benefits can promote workforce stability and advance equity across the nonprofit sector.