The United States has long relied on private organizations to provide public services to poor communities. However, while the federal government’s support of the civic sector through grants and contracts is well studied, little research investigates how it subsidizes voluntary organizations through national service programs, such Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA). In this article, we assess whether nonprofits that receive VISTA members show higher levels of donations and volunteers than matched nonprofits that did not receive VISTA members in the years following the Great Recession. We find that nonprofits that participated in the VISTA program had higher numbers of volunteers 2 years after participation, suggesting that national service was effective at supporting local organizations and building local civic infrastructure during an economic recovery. We also follow VISTA receiving organizations from 2010 to 2016 in a longitudinal design, finding a robust relationship of VISTA service and volunteering. These findings suggest VISTA is a resource for organizations and invite further research on the relationship between national service and anti-poverty work.

美国长期以来依赖私人组织为贫困社区提供公共服务。然而，虽然联邦政府通过赠款和合同对公民部门的支持得到了充分研究，但很少有研究调查联邦政府如何通过国家服务计划补贴志愿组织，例如美国服务志愿者 (VISTA)。在本文中，我们评估了在大衰退后的几年中，接收 VISTA 会员的非营利组织是否比未接收 VISTA 会员的相应非营利组织表现出更高水平的捐赠和志愿者。我们发现，参与 VISTA 计划的非营利组织在参与 2 年后拥有更多的志愿者，这表明国民服务在经济复苏期间有效支持当地组织和建设当地公民基础设施。我们还对 2010 年至 2016 年的 VISTA 接收组织进行了纵向设计，发现 VISTA 服务和志愿服务之间存在牢固的关系。这些发现表明 VISTA 是组织的资源，并邀请进一步研究国民服务与反贫困工作之间的关系。