Inputs to Development: How the Millennium Development Goals Affect Nonprofit Resources

A set of eight global priorities to eradicate extreme poverty, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were met with great optimism in 2000. While many studies have examined developmental progress in the intervening 15 years, how much of these outputs are directly attributable to the MDGs remains unclear. The Capstone team’s novel study focused on a different part of the causal chain: inputs. What effect, if any, did the MDGs have on the funding and spending activities of international development nonprofit organizations? Nonprofit organizations are key players in the international development sector. Using a rare IRS dataset that includes over one million firm-level records on funding and spending areas from 1987-2015, the Capstone team analyzed changes in the total funding and spending of U.S.-based MDG-aligned nonprofits before and after the adoption of the MDGs in 2000. The team’s findings have significant implications for the role of nonprofits in the development sector and provide a creative impact evaluation model for the recently-adopted Sustainable Development Goals.