Nonprofits statistics

From National Center for Charitable Statistics:

Nonprofit organizations include everything from neighborhood associations that meet a couple of times a year and have no assets to Harvard University and the Gates Foundation, each with tens of billions in assets. They include soup kitchens and traditional "charities" that serve the poor as well as your local church, the Chamber of Commerce, the Sierra Club, the United Steel Workers labor union, and the Metropolitan Opera. As you can see, there's no "one-size-fits-all" way to think about nonprofit organizations.
So we categorize. Nonprofit organizations can be divided by the subsection of the United States Internal Revenue Code 501(c) under which they fall.

Visit the Table Wizard reporting tool, which will allow you to filter statistics by STATE and COUNTY.

National Center for Charitable Statistics

The National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS) is the national clearinghouse of data on the nonprofit sector in the United States. The NCCS website contains a variety of tools and reports to help you learn more about the nonprofit sector! So whether you want to find a nonprofit organization in your area, view IRS Form 990 images, analyze financial data on the sector, look at trends in charitable giving, or download data, NCCS is your nonprofit data hub.

IRS list of organizations that have automatically had their federal tax exempt status revoked

The IRS has published the first Automatic Revocation of Exemption List. It indicates approximately 275,000 nonprofits whose tax-exempt status has been revoked because they failed to file a Form 990, 990-N, 990-EZ, or 990-PF for three consecutive years; the list is available for downloading in both Excel and PDF form. Here's the PDF of the New York State list.

As GuideStar notes, if an organization appears on the list, it must now must file a federal income tax return and pay federal income taxes. If it previously could accept tax-deductible contributions, it no longer can do so. "If your organization is not on the list, technically you don't have to do anything. This a good time, however, to reach out to your donors, funders, and other constituents and assure them that you are in good standing with the IRS. You may also wish to suggest that your supporters consult the list to ensure that the other nonprofits they give to are still exempt."

Small Nonprofits in Danger of Losing Their Tax-Exempt Status

From Guidestar:

"Time is running out for small nonprofits facing loss of tax-exempt status because they have not filed Form 990-N or Form 990-EZ for three consecutive years. The deadline for the IRS's one-time filing relief program is October 15, 2010. After that, nonprofits that (1) are required to file a 990 and (2) whose filings are at least three years in arrears will automatically lose their exemptions. To regain tax-exempt status, they will have to apply to the IRS all over again, a process that can take several months and requires payment of fees."

IRS Publishes List of Nonprofits at Risk of Losing Tax-Exempt Status

I belong to GuideStar, an entity that "gather[s] and publicize[s] information about nonprofit organizations." They have been writing about smaller nonprofits facing automatic revocation of tax-exempt status. They inform the readers that there is a list of nonprofits at risk on the IRS Web site.

You might want to check your favorite charities. The more curious could search the PDFs by location or partial ZIP Code, or perhaps save and manipulate the downloadable Excel files.

The Effect of the Economy on the Nonprofit Sector

The Guidestar June 2010 economic survey, which measured the impact of these difficult economic times on the nonprofit sector. Among respondents, nearly half were CEOs, executive directors, or presidents—our leaders in the nonprofit industry. The results are compelling:
• Some 40 percent of participants reported that contributions to their organizations dropped between January 1 and May 31, 2010, compared to the same period a year earlier.
• Eight percent indicated that their organizations were in imminent danger of closing.
• Sixty-three percent reported a total increase in demand for their organization's services between January 1, 2010 and May 31, 2010, compared to the same period a year prior.

The Nonprofit Sector May Shrink 25%

On May 17, 2010, the IRS began revoking tax-exempt status from nonprofits that failed to file three consecutive annual returns (Form 990-N, 990-EZ, 990, or 990-PF). As a result, as many as 300,000 nonprofits may lose their tax-exempt status, effectively shrinking the nonprofit sector by 25%.
What do YOU need to know?
• Which nonprofits are at risk?
• What happens to a nonprofit that loses its exemption?
• What happens if a donor gives to a charity that has lost its exemption?


GuideStar's new report, Automatic Revocation of Nonprofits' Tax-Exempt Status: What Nonprofits, Grantmakers, and Donors Need to Know, answers all of these questions, and more. Written by Linda M. Lampkin of ERI Economic Research Institute, it is a no-nonsense overview of the impact of this earthshaking development in the nonprofit world.

5,639 Searchable Corporate Donation Records of $1,000,000+

The NonProfit Times and NOZASEARCH are pleased to provide access to a searchable database of more than 5,000 $1 million + corporate donations. This is a free service, and no registration is required. Simply search by business name, or create an instant list by location or cause. Your results can be exported directly into a spreadsheet with the click of a button.

Form 990

NOZA has 990s on their site - it's the database that formerly belonged to GrantSmart. However, this database is primarily composed of grant-making organizations rather than grant-seeking or operating organizations.

Also, ERI has wonderful database of 990s. They only have the 2007 one as well.

The Econonic Impact of the Non-Profit

Here are a few sources of data about the non-profit:

One primary source is the Economic Census. For 2002, it can be accessed either through a series of PDFs or via American FactFinder. The EC identifies establishments that are "not subject to federal income tax" in several of the service sectors, specifically 54-Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services; 61-Educational Services; 62-Health Care and Social Assistance; 71-Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation; and 81-Other Services (except Public Administration). These reports show the receipts for these establishments at the state, MSA and county level. There is even some place data, but the smaller the geography, the more likely it will be suppressed in order not to reveal confidential information. Also, public schools, colleges and universities, governments, and churches are excluded from the Economic Census. The 2007 data won't be out until late in 2010 and will be available only via American FactFinder.

The NYC Nonprofits Project surveyed nonprofits in the 5 boroughs to estimate their impact in several areas, including the economy. The website is http://www.nycnonprofits.org/, with links to detailed papers and the final report, which came out in 2003.

CGR completed a project in 2006 for Dyson Foundation about the Mid-Hudson Valley. The early comments on methodology will give an idea of how the data were compiled.

CaRDI published a 2007 brief on the topic, specifically for Rockland County.