Does Racial Segregation Make Community‐Based Organizations More Territorial? Evidence from Newark,NJ, and Jersey City,NJ

This article contributes to research on urban nonprofit community‐based organizations (CBOs) by exploring how high racial/ethnic segregation within a city creates a context wherein CBOs become territorial. CBOs have long been recognized for their role in providing services to the urban disadvantaged. Organizations with a strong sense of territoriality typically have robust ties with their base neighborhoods, very thorough in supporting residents in those places. After interviewing 40 CBO staffers in Newark, NJ, and Jersey City, NJ, I identify three paths through which the condition of high segregation in a city leads to territorial CBOs: (1) demographically, organizations become associated with bounded, racially segregated neighborhoods; (2) politically, racially motivated political contention compels organizations to identify more closely with their base neighborhoods; and (3) financially, disadvantage concentrated along racial/ethnic lines contributes to concentrated funding efforts for the city's nonprofit sector, which in turn places greater scrutiny on where organizations situate.