The Assets of the Nation’s Charities Now Exceed $1.76-Trillion, Report Says

The number of charities in the United States is growing fast, but the wealth of those nonprofit groups is growing

even faster, according to a new report.

The total number of charities with annual revenue of $25,000 or more grew by two-thirds over 10 years, to 288,150 in 2003.

During the same time, total assets held by the nation’s charities more than doubled, to $1.76-trillion, the report says.

Those charities, which do not include private foundations, spent $945-billion in 2003, according to the report, an 88-percent leap over spending by charities a decade earlier.

Audrey R. Alvarado, executive director of the National Council of Nonprofit Associations, the Washington group that prepared the report, says that taken together, the assets of all U.S. nonprofit organizations combined would be enough to qualify as the sixth-largest economy in the world.

The new report is based on data from the Urban Institute’s National Center for Charitable Statistics and the Foundation Center. It also draws from other sources, such as the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The report says that in 2003, the most recent year for which data are available, more than 837,000 charities (not including private foundations) were registered with the Internal Revenue Service. But the overwhelming majority of them — 66 percent — had revenue of $25,000 or less and were therefore not required to file informational tax returns with the IRS.

The report focused, for the most part, on the 288,150 charities that filed tax returns for 2003. Among its findings:

• Human-service organizations accounted for the largest chunk, 34 percent, of all charities. The next biggest category was educational groups, which, including higher-education institutions, accounted for 18 percent of the nonprofit organizations.

• While human-service organizations made up more than one-third of all charities, they held only 11 percent of the assets maintained by nonprofit groups. Hospitals, which accounted for less than 2 percent of the number of nonprofit groups, held nearly 30 percent of the total assets. Higher-education institutions held about 20 percent of the assets.

• Charities brought in $980-billion in revenue. Private contributions from foundations and individuals made up 14 percent of the total, while 9 percent came from government grants. Money earned from programs and services, including government funds in the form of vouchers and contracts, accounted for 72 percent of all revenue.

• Organizations with more than $10-million in assets spent the most on lobbying, accounting for more than 60 percent of lobbying expenditures.

The full report, called “The United States Nonprofit Sector,” is available online from the National Council of Nonprofit Associations at http://www.ncna.org/_uploads/documents/live//
us_sector_report_2003.pdf.

WHERE NONPROFIT GROUPS GOT THEIR MONEY Total revenue: $980-billion Fees for services 72% Private contributions 14% Government grants 9% Investment income 3% Other 2% Note: Figures are for 2003 and include only charities — not foundations — that have revenue of $25,000 or more. SOURCE: National Council of Nonprofit Associations

THE CHARITY WORLD: A STATISTICAL PORTRAIT Growth of Nonprofit Groups Number of Charities 1993 171,317 1998 227,131 2003 288,150 Expenditures (in billions) 1993 $503.60 1998 $697.20 2003 $944.40 Assets (in billions) 1993 $866.40 1998 $1,430.20 2003 $1,764.40 Number of charities Expenditures Assets Number, Expenditures, and Assets of Charities — by Cause Arts, culture, and humanities 10.5% 2.2% 3.9% Community improvement, public/societal benefit 11% 3.9% 9% Education, excluding higher education 17.3% 5.6% 9.8% Environment/animals 3.8% 0.8% 1.4% Health care/mental health, excluding hospitals 11.4% 16% 10.9% Higher education 0.8% 10.3% 20.9% Hospitals 1.7% 43.1% 29.3% Human services 34.1% 13.8% 11.1% Religion, spiritual development 5.6% 0.8% 1.1% Research: science, technology, social science 0.8% 1.3% 1% Other 3.2% 2.1% 1.8% Note: Figures are for 2003 and include only charities — not foundations — that have revenue of $25,000 or more. SOURCE: National Council of Nonprofit Associations