This paper draws insights from the sociological study of residential segregation and the institutional perspective on organizations to examine the influence of the racial and ethnic composition of the neighborhood on organizational disbanding. The analysis, which combines panel data on a probability sample of nonprofit human service organizations with census data, reveals systematic differences: The percentage of Blacks and Latinos in the census tract is positively associated with the odds that organizations surveyed in 2002 had disbanded by 2011 after controlling for a variety of organizational and environmental factors. By contrast, an increase in the percentage of Whites in the census tract decreased the odds of organizational disbanding. Results highlight the effects of the racial and spatial landscape on organizational life chances, with implications for the capacity of the nonprofit human services sector to reach the most isolated and disadvantaged populations.
