August 9, 2001 | Read Time: 2 minutes
The revenue generated by nonprofit groups increased $156.3-billion from 1992 to 1997, according to a new report.
ALSO SEE:
The Nonprofit World: a Statistical Portrait
Where Nonprofit Groups Get Their Money
Distribution of Nonprofit Revenue, by Cause
Percentage of American Workers Employed by Nonprofit Groups
Percentage of Households Contributing To Specific Causes
How Average Sum Contributed to Charity Differs Between Those Who Volunteer and Those Who Don’t
Percentage of Americans Who Volunteer, by Cause
How Much Americans’ Volunteer Time Is Worth
The groups studied — organizations registered as 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) under the federal tax code, as well as religious congregations — saw their annual revenue rise from $508.5-billion in 1992 to $664.8-billion in 1997, the most recent year data were available. Operating expenditures rose alongside revenue, growing to $551.6-billion in 1997 from $435.8-billion in 1992.
Dues, fees, and charges accounted for 37.5 percent of revenue; federal, state, and local government, 31.3 percent; donations from private sources, 19.9 percent; and other sources, 11.4 percent, says the report from Independent Sector, a coalition that represents the nation’s largest charities and foundations.
The report’s findings on financial information are limited to 1997, while other data on volunteering, giving, and employment are for 1998.
The report says that the number of paid employees, full and part time, working in the independent sector rose to 10.9 million in 1998 from 10.6 million in 1997. In 1992, 9.1 million employees worked in the field. In all, people working for independent-sector organizations represented 7.1 percent of all American workers. Independent Sector gathered the information from government and private sources.
Copies of the report, “The New Nonprofit Almanac in Brief: Facts and Figures on the Independent Sector 2001,” are available free from Independent Sector Publications Center, P.O. Box 343, Waldorf, Md. 20604-0343; (888) 860-8118; fax (301) 843-0159; or via the organization’s Web site, http://www.independentsector.org.
The report summarizes findings from Independent Sector’s “New Nonprofit Almanac and Desk Reference” and “Giving and Volunteering in the United States, 1999.” Those publications will be available later this year.
Results of Independent Sector’s 2000 poll to determine Americans’ giving and volunteering habits are due to be released this fall.
