IRS Releases Data on Nonprofit Finances

By Elizabeth Schwinn

The number of charities that filed Form 990 and Form 990-EZ informational tax returns with the government rose from 211,615 in 1999 to 230,159 in 2000, an increase of 8.8 percent, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

That figure was more than double the growth in charities filing returns in each of the years immediately preceding it. The number of charities filing 990 returns grew 2.1 percent from 1998 to 1999, 4.2 percent from 1997 to 1998, and 3.6 percent from 1996 to 1997.

The IRS noted that another 446,714 charities that it considered to be active in 2000 did not file returns. Many groups are exempt from the filing requirement, including churches and other religious organizations, as well as nonprofit groups with annual gross receipts totaling less than $25,000. The new statistics also do not count private foundations, which file Form 990-PF returns.

Total revenue reported to the IRS by charities was $866.2-billion in 2000, an increase of 8.1 percent from the $800.7-billion reported in the previous year. Total assets of charities were $1.56-trillion in 2000, 7.4 percent more than in 1999.

Total liabilities of charities were $539.4-billion in 2000, an increase of 12 percent from the $481.4-billion reported in 1999.

Another report just released by the IRS shows that 66,738 private foundations spent $27.6-billion on grants and other charitable activities in 2000, a 21-percent increase over the previous year. That compares with an increase of 17 percent in 1999, 18 percent in 1998, and 13 percent in 1997.

Both reports appeared in the Internal Revenue Service’s fall 2003 Statistics of Income Bulletin. Copies of the reports may be obtained online at http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/article/0,,id=119099,00.html. Or copies may be purchased for $39 from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15250-7954.