By Elizabeth Schwinn
More than a million charities and private foundations were registered with the Internal Revenue Service as of September 30, 2005, according to figures released by the tax agency, up from roughly 800,000 in 2000.
The number of groups classified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code rose in 2005 by 35,614, or 3.5 percent, from 2004, the revenue service reported.
In 2005, a total of 1,045,979 charitable organizations — including 103,741 private foundations — were registered with the federal government, compared with 1,010,365 registered in 2004.
The growth of charitable organizations in recent years has been fairly consistent. The number of groups increased by 4.8 percent from 2003 to 2004, 6 percent from 2002 to 2003, and 5.1 percent from 2001 to 2002.
The IRS has acknowledged that an unknown number of the organizations classified under Section 501(c)(3) are still on the government’s books even though they have shut down.
From 2004 to 2005 the number of private foundations grew by 1.2 percent, an increase of 1,107, the revenue service said.
The IRS’s statistics show that the total number of tax- exempt organizations classified under all parts of Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code rose by 29,469, or 1.9 percent, from 2004 to 2005.
These statistics were published in the IRS’s Data Book 2005, which is available online at http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/article/0,,id=102174,00.html.
The chart below shows the number of organizations registered under each subcategory of Section 501(c) in 2004 and 2005, as well as the number of applications approved and denied in 2005 by IRS field offices.
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Section 501(c):
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(1)
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Corporations organized under act of Congress
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2
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0
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6
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8
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116
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123
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(2)
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Titleholding corporations
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124
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–
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–
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149
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7,144
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7,116
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(3)
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Religious, charitable, etc. 2 |
63,402
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765
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13,372
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77,539
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1,010,365
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1,045,979
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(4)
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Social-welfare organizations
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1,219
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4
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383
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1,606
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138,193
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136,060
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(5)
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Labor, agriculture organizations
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247
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0
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44
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291
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62,561
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61,075
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(6)
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Business leagues
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1,426
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6
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202
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1,634
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86,054
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86,485
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(7)
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Social and recreation clubs
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670
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–
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–
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1,004
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70,422
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70,399
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(8)
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Fraternal beneficiary societies
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14
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–
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–
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26
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69,798
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67,391
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(9)
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Voluntary employees’ beneficiary associations
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227
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0
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59
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286
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12,866
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12,567
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(10)
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Domestic fraternal beneficiary societies
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32
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0
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10
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42
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21,328
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21,091
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(11)
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Teachers’ retirement funds
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0
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0
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–
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–
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16
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16
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(12)
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Benevolent life-insurance associations
|
68
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0
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30
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98
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6,716
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6,718
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(13)
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Cemetery companies
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167
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0
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26
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193
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10,728
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10,819
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(14)
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State-chartered credit unions
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–
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0
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0
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–
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4,289
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4,083
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(15)
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Mutual-insurance companies
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409
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–
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–
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469
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1,988
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2,127
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(16)
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Corporations to finance crop operations
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0
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0
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0
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0
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21
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22
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(17)
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Supplemental unemployment-benefit trusts
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–
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0
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–
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10
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462
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448
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(18)
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Employee-funded pension trusts
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0
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0
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0
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0
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2
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3
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(19)
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War veterans’ organizations
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95
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0
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20
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115
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36,141
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36,166
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(21)
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Black-lung trusts
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0
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0
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0
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0
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33
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32
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(22)
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Multi-employer pension plans
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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(23)
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Veterans’ associations founded prior to 1880
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0
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0
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0
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0
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2
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2
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(24)
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Trusts described in section 4049 of ERISA
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0
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0
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0
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0
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4
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4
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(25)
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Holding companies for pensions, etc.
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88
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–
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–
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92
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1,285
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1,274
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(26)
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State-sponsored high-risk health-insurance organizations
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0
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0
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0
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0
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11
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12
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(27)
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State-sponsored workers’ compensation reinsurance organizations
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1
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0
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0
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1
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9
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11
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Total
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68,203
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781
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14,584
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83,568
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1,540,554
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1,570,023
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Note: Section 501(c)(20), which was formerly used to classify legal-service organizations, has been abolished. — Internal Revenue Service did not disclose figures to avoid identifying specific organizations. 1. Includes cases in which organizations withdrew the applications or failed to furnish required information. 2. All Section 501(c)(3) organizations are not included because certain organizations (such as churches, integrated auxiliaries, subordinate units, and conventions or associations of churches) need not apply for recognition of tax exemption unless they desire a ruling. |
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SOURCE: Internal Revenue Service
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