Abstract

In Britain and the USA, non-profit anid charitable organizations hiave become in-creasingly important wit/h respect to their role in urban community activity. Governments on both sides of the Atlantic have recognized the value of n)on-profits in promoting community involvement in local intitiatives designed to stimulate econiomic activity andpoliticalanad social initegration. The paper describes American experience and suggests that Britain is also responiding to the challenge posed by voluntarism by increasinggovernmenit intervention in support of nonl-profits. This paper views the nature of the relationships between governments and non-profit organizations in the United States and Britain. It outlines the role non-profits play in American and British urban policy and examines the connection between non-profits and governments with reference to the integration of groups into community initiatives.' A focus of the study will be the consequences of 'privatization ' of local effort when combined with significant inputs of public funding. It will be argued that