Descriptive nonprofit accounting research

Descriptive studies offer myriad ways to understand the nonprofit sector. This research outlines the size, scope, key characteristics, and trends of the sector, providing vital information to nonprofit managers, regulators, and scholars. Descriptive studies are important on their own and can assist researchers using behavioral or archival empirical methods in properly setting the scope and parameters of their investigations. This chapter describes both the accomplishments and limitations of major studies that estimate the number of organizations, revenues and expenses, volunteering, and employment in the sector. The authors also discuss efforts to quantify and describe the various accounting methods used in the field and to benchmark normal levels of financial performance. Finally, the chapter summarizes contributions of this type of research and suggests areas for future study.