To develop solid information on nonprofits in the Indianapolis metropolitan area we included a special sample of nonprofits from the region in our 2002 survey of Indiana nonprofits along with similar samples from the eleven other communities profiled in the project and drawn from our comprehensive listing of Indiana nonprofits (see below). Most of our full survey reports include regional data in appendix tables.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Region
In-Depth Analysis of Indianapolis Region Nonprofits
We have prepared several in-depth reports and resources on Indianapolis region nonprofits based on a variety of data sources.
Comprehensive Profile of Nonprofits in the Indianapolis Metropolitan Region
Read our special survey report on Indianapolis Nonprofits: Scope and Dimensions (Nonprofit Survey Series, Community Report #5). This report is based on our survey of Indiana nonprofits completed in 2002 and compares the profile of Indianapolis nonprofits to those in the rest of the state and to nonprofits in other metropolitan regions.
Comprehensive Listing of Nonprofits in the Indianapolis Metropolitan Region
The Indianapolis metropolitan community includes Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Madison, Marion, Morgan, and Shelby counties. For our most recent listing of nonprofits in the Indianapolis region, please see information and links available at our Searchable Database.
Supplementary demographic and economic data on the Indianapolis region is available from the Indiana Business Research Center. Click on the following communities for detailed information:
- Indianapolis Metro Area
- Boone County
- Hamilton County
- Hancock County
- Hendricks County
- Johnson County
- Madison County
- Marion County
- Morgan County
- Shelby County
There is a growing list of websites with complementary county-level information. These include the following:
- Indiana Business Research Center: county overviews of demographic and economic information for the state of Indiana (select the county of interest).
- Community Economic Toolbox: maps with county level economic indicators available from Amy Glasmeier of MIT (select the state of Indiana and then the county of interest).
- Census Scope: maps and charts with county demograpic data (select a particular type of data, click on the state of Indiana and then "change location" at the lower left corner to select the county of interest).
The data presented in the tables below are based on our comprehensive listing of nonprofits developed in 2001 and 2002 from project sources. These included the IRS list of tax exempt entities, the Indiana Secretary of State list of nonprofit corporations, phone listings of congregations, supplementary listings, and personal affiliation survey data.
Based on these sources, in 2001 (when the nonprofit listings were developed) the Indianapolis region had a total of 16,395 nonprofit organizations or about 102 per 10,000 residents (some may be defunct or otherwise inappropriately included). We report the density of nonprofit organizations (per 10,000 residents) in 2001 for each area to allow comparisons of nonprofits across regions.
Classifying nonprofits into major categories further enhances our understanding of the local nonprofit sector. Using the National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) classification system, the project staff has tentatively classified local nonprofits to show the composition of the region's nonprofit sector by major nonprofit field and by geographic area. The classification was based primarily on the names of the organizations and is known to be inaccurate, so the profile information below should be interpreted with caution.
