April 2020

Key Facts on U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations
What are public charities?

1,729,101— Primarily administer programs; occasionally make grants

nonprofits are registeredwith the IRS— What most people think of when they hear the word nonprofit— Small and local (e.g., an animal shelter) or large andnational or international (e.g., Save the Children)

Some nonprofits are not required
to register. How many is unknown.

What are private foundations?

Source: December 2019 IRS Business Master File (BMF)

The most common type of nonprofit
is the 501(c)(3) public charityNonprofits by type72%

501(c)(3)
public charities— Primarily grantmaking institutions; occasionallyadminister programs— Examples include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation andthe W.K. Kellogg Foundation— Typically are founded by and receive support from a small
number of individuals or corporations
There are more than 30 other types of 501(c) nonprofits in theU.S., including social welfare groups, business associations,veterans’ organizations, labor unions, and federal credit unions.

7%21%

All other501(c)sSource: December 2019 IRS BMF.

Key Facts on U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations | candid.org

501(c)(3)
private foundations

501(c) refers to the section of the Internal Revenue Codeunder which these nonprofits are tax exempt. Public charities
and private foundations are grouped under the same
section–501(c)(3).
1Public Charities
Public charities are everywhere

They reflect every aspect of life

You can find them in every state, and in U.S. territories.

Top 5 public charity subject areas

Public charities per capita by U.S. state

Human services

Number of public charities for every 10,000 residents<3535-39
40-44
45+

Religion-related

27%
19%
14%

EducationWAME

ND

MT
ORMN

ID

VT

SD

WI

NVIANE

PAUTCAIL

CO
KS
AZ

OKNM

OH

IN

WV

MO

KY

VA

TN

10%Arts, culture,and humanities

9%

Source: December 2019 IRS BMF. Only includes 501(c)(3) public charities in the 50 U.S. states and D.C.
Based on National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities.

NJ

MD DE
DCNC

AR

Most are small
Public charities by annual revenue

SCMS

TX

NYMI

WYNH
MACT RI

Public, societal
benefit

AL

3%GA

>$5M

LAAKFL
HI

75%$0-99K$1M-4.9M

4%$500K-999K

Sources: December 2019 IRS BMF; U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division, December 2019

They raise money from a varietyof sources

5%

13%

$100K-499K
Source (above and left): Based on the most recent IRS filing available, 2015 or later, available for organizations
appearing in the December 2019 IRS BMF. Only includes 501(c)(3) public charities in the 50 U.S. states and D.C.
Does not include organizations that aren’t registered with the IRS or did not report revenue figures, with theexception of the chart above where organizations filing form 990-N are included in the lowest tier.

Program services account for 72% of public charity revenue.
They also raise money from contributions, including government
funding, individual donations, and foundation grants.
In 2017, at least 18% of U.S. public charities
had received a grant from a U.S. grantmaker.
Key Facts on U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations | candid.org

2Foundations
Private foundations— Independent: Include most of the nation’s largest
foundations. Generally established by individual donors
or donor families.
— Operating: Primarily run their own programs, but somealso make grants. Generally established by individuals
or families.
— Corporate: Established by large or small businesses,
although legally separate entities.

Foundation giving is a modest but
growing slice of overall giving in the U.S.
Private giving by source

18%

Foundations

68%

9%

Individuals

Bequests

Community foundations raise funds fromthe public and engage in grantmaking primarily within a defined
geographic area.

Corporations
Source: Figures for 2018 from Giving USA Foundation, Giving USA, 2019. Per Giving USA criteria, corporate
foundations are included under ‘Corporations’ and community foundations are excluded.

Foundation giving over time

Total foundations = 119,791

107,889
7,9472,888
1,067

5%

Independent

OperatingCorporate

Community

Private foundations

Community foundations

$61B

$57B

$52B

$72B

$66B

Total assets = $1.2 trillion

$948B
$82B
$36B
$98B

$5B

Total giving = $82 billion

$57B
$8B
$7B
$10B
Key Facts on U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations | candid.org

2013

$6B
2014

$7B
2015

$8B
2016

$9B
2017

Source: Based on a historical view of the IRS BMF for the given fiscal year end. Limited to organizations
with a filing address in the 50 U.S. states and D.C.
Source (left): Based on most recent IRS filing, 2015 or later, available for organizations appearing in theDecember 2019 IRS BMF.

3Grantmaking priorities
What do foundations fund most?

Top 5 support strategies by dollar amount28%

HealthCommunity andeconomic development

Capacity-building andtechnical assistance

12%8%

Arts and culture

Top 5 populations served by dollar amount
Economicallydisadvantaged people

34%
23%

Children and youth
Women and girls

7%

Ethnic and racial
groups7%

People with disabilities

15%
10%

Policy, advocacy, andsystems reform

12%

Human services

20%

General support
Research and evaluation24%

Education

41%Program development

Top 5 subject areas by dollar amountOver 26% ofgrant dollars
from U.S.
funders wereawarded forinternational
purposes

The median grant amount
was $35,000

1% of recipient organizations
captured half of grant dollars

Stanford
University
received thehighest number ofgrants. Seven of
the top 10 grantrecipients wereelite universities.

3%Source (for all figures on this page): 2017. Subject, population, and support strategy categories are based on the
Philanthropy Classification System. The full value of each grant is counted toward each applicable category.

In order to analyze grantmaking priorities by U.S. funders, Candid
examines all grants of $10,000 or more awarded by 1,000 of thelargest U.S.-based private and community foundations. These
funders account for about half of all grantmaking dollars awarded
by private and community foundations.

8%

About Candid data: candid.org/about-our-data
For more information contact: researchteam@candid.org© 2020, Candid. This work is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial 4.0 International License. creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0.
doi.org/dnw9

Key Facts on U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations | candid.org

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