Here's an article from Business Week talking about the number of charities in the U.S. Having worked for one such "charity," I think the author is right. More means that the nation is richer, more means market forces will drown the inept nonprofits and discourage "nonprofit empire building." I love working for associations, but when I was involved in the charity scene, I definitely was confronted with a lot of sketchy motives and a distinct lack of outcome-orientation.
Here's an article from the UK's Design Council talking about how information design is important in public-sector efforts. Of course, it's helpful to everyone, but this is a good example of the universal need for better presentation of information--and more design.