14. Sector/Industry

The NTEE you iden­ti­fied in Ques­tion 2 will allow you to iden­tify the sector (or sectors) in which the organization is oper­at­ing. The best way to learn about a sector is to con­sult sector pub­li­ca­tions, if they are available. You can find these using a gen­eral news search or by con­sult­ing Web Wire. Indus­try pub­li­ca­tions often pro­vide a great deal of infor­ma­tion about cur­rent trends in the indus­try, as well as com­par­a­tive data on the industry’s top players.

Sometimes nonprofits operate in a sector or industry that also includes private sector firms. In these cases you can go to Yahoo Finance,  and use the “indus­try” tab to learn more about the indus­try in which your firm is located.

UMass Resources (for UMass stu­dents only)

CFRA’s MarketScope Advisor provides reports on selected industries and individual firms. IBIS World provide slightly less comprehensive reports but on a much wider variety of industries. Business Insights: Essentials also provides basic information on industries, and Mintel looks specifically at retailing, healthcare, technology and tourism.