How The Chronicle Compiled This Year’s Philanthropy 400 Survey

The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual Philanthropy 400, now in its 18th year, ranks nonprofit organizations based on the amount of money the groups raised in the previous year from individuals, foundations, and corporations.

Charities are allowed to count cash and other gifts such as stock, real estate, food, medicine, and art in calculating how much they raise from private sources; they may not include government money.

The rankings are determined largely by information gathered from each organization’s Form 990, the informational tax return that charities must file annually with the Internal Revenue Service. Additional data that help determine the Philanthropy 400 were found in annual reports, financial statements, and a Chronicle questionnaire based on the Form 990.

The Chronicle strives, whenever possible, to include consolidated data for those organizations that have affiliates, and in many cases, such data come from audited financial statements. Some religious organizations, which do not have to disclose their finances publicly, are included in the rankings because they provided their information to The Chronicle.

Donations raised in the fiscal year that ended in 2007, or in 2008 for organizations with fiscal years ending in January, February, or March, form the basis for the rankings.

Thirty-three organizations are included based on data for the 2006 fiscal year because they did not have more-recent information available by The Chronicle’s deadline. Many of those organizations were granted an extension by the IRS of the deadline by which they need to file their Form 990.

Making the List

An organization’s ability to attract support from American donors is central to the Philanthropy 400 rankings. As a result some charities that have big budgets do not appear on the list because they get most of their money from government or contracts and fees. Donations raised overseas do not count toward the private-support total that determines the Philanthropy 400 rankings, even though some organizations have international affiliates.

To make the list this year, a charity had to raise at least $49.6-million from private sources. Last year, charities needed to raise $42-million to be included in the Philanthropy 400.

Consolidated figures — including an organization’s headquarters and its affiliates — were provided by 145 organizations in this year’s list.

Examining the Data

The Chronicle used information collected on an annual survey of colleges and universities by the Council for Aid to Education, in New York, to rank higher-education institutions in the Philanthropy 400. Public colleges and universities are not required to file an IRS Form 990, making the council’s survey the most reliable source of information about fund raising at such institutions.

In a few cases where a private institution did not respond to the council’s survey, The Chronicle used information from the organizations’ Forms 990 to determine private support.

An important difference exists between the Form 990 and the council’s survey, however. The 990 allows an organization to include pledges in the amount of money it received from private sources, but the council’s survey counts only money in hand at the end of the institution’s financial year.

The Chronicle was not able to consider two organizations that seemed to be eligible for inclusion on the Philanthropy 400 because they failed to provide their informational tax returns.

The law requires that the Form 990 be provided within 30 days of a request, but Bard College, in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., and the Diana Helis Henry Medical Research Foundation, in New Orleans, did not send their latest Forms 990 after repeated written requests, and did not tell The Chronicle whether they had sought an extension from the IRS.

The Chronicle has reported those failures to provide the documents to the IRS.

According to its most recent tax return, Bard College raised $49,274,243 in 2006, and the Diana Helis Henry Medical Research Foundation raised $47,049,524 in 2006.

Money raised from private sources is the key piece of information reported in the Philanthropy 400, but tables showing the rankings also include figures on expenses such as fund-raising and program costs.

Comparing such figures should be done with care, since those figures can differ based on an organization’s programs, management, and accounting methods. Comparing a group that distributes grants to other charities with another that runs its own charitable programs, for example, may not be fair.

The Chronicle strives to include all charities that might be eligible for the Philanthropy 400. To inform the newspaper of a nonprofit organization that should be included in next year’s survey, please send an e-mail message to survey@philanthropy.com.

The Philanthropy 400 was compiled by Noelle Barton, Maria Di Mento, and Candie Jones, with assistance from Audrey Hill and Analissa Dimen Kiss.