This study uses a grounded theory, exploratory design to discover the impact of frozen and decreased government funding on nonprofit human service organizations located in the Washington, DC area. This study began by collecting and analyzing data from interviews that were conducted with nonprofit leaders from 10 purposefully selected nonprofit organizations that receive government funding. Ten additional leaders were then selected and interviewed for this study based on the information that was obtained from the first group of 10 nonprofit leaders.

The results of the interviews were collected and coded in accordance with the open, axial, and selective coding procedures. During the Axial coding process, each category was evaluated and relationships between the data identified, leading to the formation of six main themes: stakeholder relationships, coping strategies, restrictions, staffing, service delivery, and organizational functioning. The evidence generated by study participants provided the underpinning for the theory that decreases and or freezes in government funding generate changes in the organizational functioning of nonprofit human service organizations.