CENTER ON NONPROFITS AND PHILANTHROPY

The Nonprofit Sector in Brief 2015

Public Charities, Giving, and Volunteering

Brice S. McKeever
October 2015

This brief discusses trends in the number and finances of 501(c)(3) public charities and key findings on
two important resources for the nonprofit sector: private charitable contributions and volunteering.

Highlights
 Approximately 1.41 million nonprofits were registered with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
in 2013, an increase of 2.8 percent from 2003.

 The nonprofit sector contributed an estimated $905.9 billion to the US economy in 2013,
composing 5.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).1

 Of the nonprofit organizations registered with IRS, 501(c)(3) public charities accounted for just
over three-quarters of the nonprofit sector’s revenue and expenses ($1.73 trillion and $1.62
trillion, respectively) and more than three-fifths of nonprofit assets ($3.22 trillion) in 2013.

 In 2014, total private giving from individuals, foundations, and businesses totaled $358.38
billion, an increase of just over 5 percent from 2013 after adjusting for inflation. According to
Giving USA (2015), total charitable giving rose for the fifth consecutive year in 2014. After
adjusting for inflation, this is the first year to exceed the previous peak set before the recession
in 2007 ($355.16 billion in 2014 dollars).

 Fully 25.3 percent of US adults volunteered with an organization in 2014, contributing an

estimated 8.7 billion hours, the most hours recorded since the Current Population Survey’s
volunteer supplement began in 2002; the value of these hours is approximately $179.2 billion.
Size and Scope
All Nonprofit Organizations

NUMBER
From 2003 to 2013, the number of nonprofit organizations registered with the IRS rose from 1.38
million to 1.41 million, an increase of 2.8 percent. These 1.41 million organizations comprise a diverse
range of nonprofits, including art, health, education, and advocacy nonprofits; labor unions; and
business and professional associations. This broad spectrum, however, only includes registered
nonprofit organizations; the total number of nonprofit organizations operating in the United States is
unknown. Religious congregations and organizations with less than $50,000 in annual revenue are not
required to register with the IRS, though many do.2 These unregistered organizations expand the scope
of the nonprofit sector beyond the 1.41 million organizations this brief focuses on.

FINANCES
Approximately 35 percent of nonprofits registered with the IRS in 2013 were required to file a Form
990, Form 990-EZ, or Form 990-PF with the IRS.3 These reporting nonprofits identified $2.26 trillion in
revenues and $5.17 trillion in assets (table 1).4 Between 2003 and 2013, finances for reporting
nonprofits showed healthy development. Both revenues and assets grew faster than GDP: after
adjusting for inflation, revenues grew 30.7 percent and assets grew 32.7 percent, compared with 14.3
percent growth for GDP. Expenses grew 27.3 percent (after adjusting for inflation) during the same
period. In the short term, after adjusting for inflation, revenues grew 3.0 percent from $2.19 trillion in
2012 to $2.26 trillion in 2013; assets increased 5.2 percent from $4.91 trillion to $5.17 trillion.
Expenses also grew from $2.06 trillion in 2012 to $2.10 trillion in 2013, an increase of 1.7 percent.

Public Charities

NUMBER
Public charities are the largest category of the more than 30 types of tax-exempt nonprofit
organizations defined by the Internal Revenue Code. Classified under section 501(c)(3) (along with
private foundations), public charities include arts, culture, and humanities organizations; education
organizations; health care organizations; human services organizations; and other types of
organizations to which donors can make tax-deductible donations. In 2013, over 950,000 organizations
were classified as public charities, composing over two-thirds of all registered nonprofits. Between
2003 and 2013, the number of public charities grew 19.5 percent, faster than the growth of all
registered nonprofits (2.8 percent). The number of registered public charities also grew faster than
other nonprofit subgroups during the decade, including private foundations, which declined 8.3 percent,
and 501(c)(4) organizations, which declined 0.32 percent. Consequently, public charities made up a
larger share of the nonprofit sector in 2013 (67.5 percent) than in 2003 (58.1 percent).

The number of reporting charities required to file a Form 990 or Form 990-EZ grew slightly
between 2012 and 2013, showing an increase of 2.3 percent. For comparison, the number decreased
slightly between 2011 and 2012 (less than 0.5 percent).

2 THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN BRIEF 2015

TABLE 1
Size and Financial Scope of the Nonprofit Sector, 2003–13

% change, 2003– % change, % change, 2003–

% change, 08 (inflation 2003– 2013 (inflation
2003 2008 2003–08 adjusted) 2013 2013 adjusted)
All registered nonprofits 1.38 million 1.54 million 11.7 — 1.41 million 2.8 —
Reporting nonprofits 515,866 610,728 18.4 — 500,396a -3.0 —
Revenues ($) 1.36 trillion 1.93 trillion 41.7 21.1 2.26 trillion 65.5 30.7
Expenses ($) 1.30 trillion 1.82 trillion 40.0 19.6 2.10 trillion 61.2 27.3
Assets ($) 3.07 trillion 4.35 trillion 41.4 20.8 5.17 trillion 68.1 32.7
501(c)(3) public charities 798,988 975,770 22.1 — 954,476 19.5 —
Reporting public charities 287,251 353,483 23.1 — 293,103a 2.0 —
Revenues ($) 974 billion 1.44 trillion 48.0 26.5 1.73 trillion 78.0 40.6
Expenses ($) 940 billion 1.34 trillion 42.9 22.1 1.62 trillion 72.8 36.5
Assets ($) 1.75 trillion 2.60 trillion 48.1 26.6 3.22 trillion 83.9 45.3

Sources: Urban Institute, National Center for Charitable Statistics, Core Files (Public Charities, 2003, 2003, and 2013); the Internal Revenue Service Business Master Files, Exempt
Organizations (2004–14).
Notes: — = not applicable. Reporting public charities include only organizations that both reported (filed IRS Forms 990) and were required to do so (had $25,000 or more in gross
receipts in 2003 and 2008 and more than $50,000 in gross receipts in 2013). Organizations that had their tax-exempt status revoked for failing to file a financial return for three
consecutive years have been removed from the 2013 nonprofit total. Foreign organizations, government-associated organizations, and organizations without state identifiers have
also been excluded. Unless noted, all amounts are in current dollars and are not adjusted for inflation.
a
See note 4 of the brief.

THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN BRIEF 2015 3

FINANCES
Fully 58.6 percent of nonprofit organizations reporting to the IRS in 2013 were public charities.
Accounting for more than three-quarters of revenues and expenses for the nonprofit sector, public
charities reported $1.73 trillion in revenues and $1.62 trillion in expenses. Assets held by public
charities accounted for more than three-fifths of the sector’s total ($3.22 trillion).

SIZE
Even after excluding organizations with gross receipts below the $50,000 filing threshold, small
organizations composed the majority of public charities in 2013. As shown in figure 1, 66.4 percent had
less than $500,000 in expenses (194,749 organizations); they composed less than 2 percent of public
charity expenditures ($30.1 billion). Though organizations with expenses at $10 million or more
included just 5.3 percent of public charities (15,409 organizations), they accounted for 86.7 percent of
public charity expenditures ($1.4 trillion).

FIGURE 1
Number and Expenses of Reporting Public Charities as a Percentage of All Reporting Public Charities
and Expenses, 2013

Public charities Total expenses 86.7

37.0
29.5

14.4
10.6
5.8 3.3 4.2 5.3
0.3 1.5 1.4

Under $100,000* $100,000 to $500,000 to $1 million to $5 million to $10 million

$499,999 $999,999 $4.99 million $9.99 million or more

Source: Urban Institute, National Center for Charitable Statistics, Core Files (Public Charities, 2013).

REVENUE SOURCES
Almost half (47.5 percent) of the total revenue for public charities came from fees for services and
goods from private sources (figure 2). This figure includes tuition payments, ticket sales, and hospital
patient revenues (but excludes Medicare and Medicaid) and is driven largely by hospitals and higher-
education nonprofits, both of which derive their funding primarily through fees for goods and services.
The next-largest proportion of public charities’ revenue came from fees from government sources, such
as government contracts and Medicare and Medicaid payments; these fees accounted for just under

4 THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN BRIEF 2015

one-quarter of public charities’ revenues (24.5 percent) in 2013. Private charitable giving represented
13.3 percent of total revenues, and government grants represented another 8 percent. The remainder
of revenue came from investment (4.8 percent) and other income (1.9 percent). Combining government
contracts and grants into a single category, the government provided nearly one-third (32.5 percent) of
2013 nonprofit revenues.

FIGURE 2
Revenue Sources for Reporting Public Charities, 2013 (Percent)
47.5

24.5

13.3
8.0
4.8
1.9

Fees for services Fees for services Private Government grants Investment income Other income
and goods from and goods from contributions
private sources government
sources

Sources: National Center for Charitable Statistics calculations of IRS Statistics of Income Division Exempt Organizations Sample
(2009, 2011); Urban Institute, National Center for Charitable Statistics, Core Files (Public Charities, 2013); American Hospital
Association 2012 survey; and National Health Accounts (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services).

TYPE
Table 2 displays the 2013 distribution of public charities by type of organization. Human services
groups—such as food banks, homeless shelters, youth services, sports organizations, and family or legal
services—composed over one-third of all public charities (35.5 percent). They were more than twice as
numerous as education organizations, the next-most prolific type of organization, which accounted for
17.1 percent of all public charities. Education organizations include booster clubs, parent-teacher
associations, parent-teacher organizations, and financial aid groups. Health care organizations, though
accounting for only 12.9 percent of reporting public charities, accounted for nearly three-fifths of public
charity revenues and expenses in 2013. Education organizations accounted for about 17.1 percent of
revenues and 16.6 percent of expenses; human services organizations, despite being more numerous,
accounted for comparatively less revenue (12.4 percent of the total) and expenses (12.7 percent of the
total). Hospitals, despite composing only 2.4 percent of total public charities (just over 7,000
organizations), accounted for about half of all public charity revenues and expenses (49.8 and 50.7
percent, respectively).

THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN BRIEF 2015 5

TABLE 2
Number and Finances of Reporting Public Charities by Subsector, 2013

Dollar Total (Billions) Percentage of Total

Number Percentage of total Revenues Expenses Assets Revenues Expenses Assets

All public charities 293,103 100.0 1,734.1 1,623.8 3,225.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Arts, culture, and humanities 29,136 9.9 33.6 30.2 110.7 1.9 1.9 3.4
Education 50,262 17.1 296.3 269.2 958.1 17.1 16.6 29.7
Higher education 2,050 0.7 188.1 174.6 617.7 10.8 10.8 19.2
Other education 48,212 16.4 108.2 94.6 340.3 6.2 5.8 10.6
Environment and animals 13283 4.5 16.7 14.7 41.4 1.0 0.9 1.3
Health 37,732 12.9 1,025.3 975.8 1,392.8 59.1 60.1 43.2
Hospitals and primary care facilities 7,062 2.4 864.0 823.9 1,133.5 49.8 50.7 35.1
Other health care 30,670 10.5 161.3 151.9 259.3 9.3 9.4 8.0
Human services 104,002 35.5 214.2 206.9 331.5 12.4 12.7 10.3
International and foreign affairs 6,305 2.2 32.4 30.8 39.3 1.9 1.9 1.2
Public and social benefit 34,081 11.6 100.2 82.8 315.2 5.8 5.1 9.8
Religion-related 18,302 6.2 15.4 13.5 36.0 0.9 0.8 1.1

Source: Urban Institute, National Center for Charitable Statistics, Core Files (Public Charities, 2013).
Note: Subtotals may not sum to totals because of rounding.

6 THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN BRIEF 2015

GROWTH
The number of reporting public charities in 2013 was approximately 2.3 percent higher than the
number in 2012. The total revenues, expenses, and assets for reporting public charities all increased
between 2012 and 2013: after adjusting for inflation, revenues rose 3.5 percent, expenses rose 2.3
percent, and assets rose 6.2 percent.

These trends are indicative of larger growth in the sector: both the number and finances of
organizations in the nonprofit sector have grown over the past 10 years. But this growth has differed by
subsector and period (table 3). Subsectors experienced varying degrees of financial expansion: although
all subsectors reported increases in revenue in 2013 compared with 2003 (even after adjusting for
inflation), a few subsectors decreased in number of nonprofits, including arts, education (excluding
higher education), health (excluding hospitals and primary care facilities), and other public and societal
benefit organizations. Consequently, these types of organizations accounted for a slightly lower
proportion of the total sector in 2013 (49.5 percent) than they did in 2003 (51.4 percent). The smallest
subsectors (international and foreign affairs organizations and environment and animals organizations)
saw the largest growth rates in the number of organizations, increasing 19.3 and 18.2 percent,
respectively, from 2003 to 2013.

Financially, education organizations (excluding higher education) had the largest proportional
increase in both revenue and expenses despite their slight reduction in numbers, growing from $70.0
billion in revenue in 2003 to $108.2 billion in 2013 after adjusting for inflation (a change of 54.5
percent). Organizations devoted to higher education also saw considerable growth, increasing 42.0
percent in revenue (from $132.5 billion in 2003 to $188.1 billion in 2013, after adjusting for inflation).
International and foreign affairs organizations also experienced large increases in revenues (49.7
percent) and expenses (46.4 percent) after adjusting for inflation (table 4). Although health
organizations experienced a slightly lower growth rate of 43.1 percent in the same period, revenues for
the health subsector in inflation-adjusted dollars increased from $716.7 billion to over $1.03 trillion, by
far the largest dollar growth of any subsector between 2003 and 2013. At just over $300 billion, the
growth attributed to the health care subsector accounts for over two-thirds of the growth of the
nonprofit sector as a whole ($500.9 billion) between 2003 and 2013.

Public charities’ financial growth largely occurred before the recession (see table 4). From 2003 to
2008, revenues and assets for all public charities increased 26.5 percent and 26.6 percent, respectively,
but both grew much more slowly during and after the recession from 2008 to 2013 (11.2 percent for
revenues and 14.8 percent for assets, adjusting for inflation). Two subsectors actually experienced
declining revenue between 2008 and 2013: international and foreign affairs organizations and arts,
culture, and humanities organizations. International and foreign affairs organizations experienced
larger decline, falling from $34.5 billion in revenue in 2008 to $32.4 billion in 2013 (a decline of 5.9
percent); arts, culture, and humanities organizations fell from $34.9 billion in revenue in 2008 to $33.6
billion in 2013 (a decline of 3.8 percent). Both subsectors also saw a decline in expenses (7.8 percent for
international and foreign affairs organizations and 1.2 percent for arts, culture, and humanities
organizations). However, all other subsectors experienced growth in both revenues and expenses (see
table 4).

THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN BRIEF 2015 7

TABLE 3
Number, Revenues, and Assets of Reporting Public Charities by Subsector, 2003–13 (Adjusted for Inflation)

Number Revenues ($ Billions) Assets ($ Billions)

2003 2008 2013 2003 2008 2013 2003 2008 2013

All public charities 287,251 353,483 293,103 1,233.2 1,560.1 1,734.1 2,219.8 2,810.1 3,225.0
Arts, culture, and humanities 31,568 38,812 29,136 28.2 34.9 33.6 86.2 106.8 110.7
Education 50,737 64,431 50,262 202.5 288.6 296.3 682.5 914.6 958.1
Higher education 1,841 2,053 2,050 132.5 182.2 188.1 478.4 608.6 617.7
Other education 48,896 62,378 48,212 70.0 106.4 108.2 204.1 306.0 340.3
Environment and animals 11,233 15,308 13,283 11.5 15.0 16.7 28.3 35.8 41.4
Health 38,869 43,576 37,732 716.7 884.1 1,025.3 884.5 1,095.3 1,392.8
Hospitals and primary care facilities 6,969 7,413 7,062 606.8 743.8 864.0 698.8 867.0 1,133.5
Other health care 31,900 36,163 30,670 109.9 140.3 161.3 185.6 228.3 259.3
Human services 97,751 118,571 104,002 171.0 196.4 214.2 250.8 297.8 331.5
International and foreign affairs 5,283 6,802 6,305 21.7 34.5 32.4 23.1 34.0 39.3
Public and social benefit 35,166 43,472 34,081 71.5 93.4 100.2 241.3 297.0 315.2
Religion-related 16,644 22,511 18,302 10.1 13.3 15.4 23.1 28.9 36.0

Source: Urban Institute, National Center for Charitable Statistics, Core Files (Public Charities, 2003, 2008, and 2013).
Note: Subtotals may not sum to totals because of rounding.

8 THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN BRIEF 2015

TABLE 4
Percent Change in Revenue, Expenses, and Assets of Reporting Public Charities by Subsector, 2003–
13 (Adjusted for Inflation)

Change in Revenues (%) Change in Expenses (%) Change in Assets (%)

2003– 2003– 2008– 2003– 2003– 2008– 2003– 2003 2008–

Subsector 13 08 13 13 08 13 13 –08 13
All public charities 40.6 26.5 11.2 36.5 22.1 11.8 45.3 26.6 14.8
Arts, culture, and
humanities 19.0 23.7 -3.8 14.3 15.7 -1.2 28.4 23.8 3.6
Education 46.3 42.5 2.7 39.8 24.6 12.2 40.4 34.0 4.8
Higher education 42.0 37.6 3.2 35.6 18.8 14.2 29.1 27.2 1.5
Other education 54.5 51.9 1.7 48.2 36.4 8.7 66.7 49.9 11.2
Environment and animals 45.1 30.1 11.5 46.4 28.3 14.1 46.4 26.5 15.7
Health 43.1 23.3 16.0 39.2 21.7 14.4 57.5 23.8 27.2
Hospitals and primary
care facilities 42.4 22.6 16.2 39.0 21.6 14.3 62.2 24.1 30.7
Other health care 46.8 27.7 15.0 40.4 22.2 14.9 39.7 23.0 13.6
Human services 25.3 14.8 9.1 23.3 13.2 8.9 32.2 18.7 11.3
International and foreign
affairs 49.7 59.1 -5.9 46.4 58.7 -7.8 70.7 47.4 15.8
Public and societal benefit 40.2 30.6 7.3 34.9 30.9 3.1 30.6 23.1 6.1
Religion-related 52.3 31.9 15.5 39.2 28.6 8.3 55.7 25.0 24.5

Source: Urban Institute, National Center for Charitable Statistics, Core Files (Public Charities, 2003, 2008, and 2013).
Note: Subtotals may not sum to totals because of rounding.

Giving

GIVING AMOUNTS
Private charitable contributions reached an estimated $358.38 billion in 2014 (figure 3; Giving USA
Foundation 2015). Total charitable giving has been increasing for five consecutive years, beginning with
2010: since 2009, private giving has increased 18.2 percent, adjusting for inflation.

RECIPIENTS
Congregations and religious organizations received nearly one-third (32.0 percent) of all charitable
contributions in 2014 (table 5), a slightly lower proportion than they received five years earlier in 2009
(33.2 percent). Education organizations received the next-highest share of private charitable
contributions (15.2 percent), followed by human services organizations (11.7 percent); both of these
types of organizations received a higher proportion of charitable contributions than they had received
five years earlier (13.2 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively). Gifts to individuals made up the smallest
proportion of private contributions: 1.8 percent.

THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN BRIEF 2015 9

FIGURE 3
Private Charitable Contributions, 2003–14
Constant (2014) dollars Current dollars

2003 305.51
237.45
2004 326.17
260.26
2005 354.47
292.43
2006 347.69
296.09
2007 355.16
311.06
2008 329.44
299.61
2009 303.21
274.78
2010 312.85
288.16
2011 314.10
298.45
2012 339.56
329.32
2013 339.93
334.50
2014 358.38
358.38

Source: Giving USA Foundation (2015).

TABLE 5
Charitable Contributions by Type of Recipient Organizations, 2014

Percentage of all
charitable Percentage of all
contributions, charitable Percentage-point
Type of charity 2009 contributions, 2014 change, 2009–14
Religion 33.2 32.0 -1.2
Education 13.2 15.2 2.0
Human services 8.9 11.7 2.8
Gifts to foundations 10.2 11.6 1.4
Health 7.4 8.5 1.1
Other public and societal benefit 7.5 7.3 -0.2
Arts, culture, and humanities 4.1 4.8 0.7
International affairs 2.9 4.2 1.3
Environment or animals 2.0 2.9 0.9
Gifts to individuals/unallocated/other 10.6 1.8 -8.8

Source: Giving USA Foundation (2010, 2015).

10 THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN BRIEF 2015

FOUNDATIONS
The Foundation Center estimates there were more than 87,142 grantmaking foundations in the United
States in 2013 (Foundation Center 2015). Their grants, a component of private charitable
contributions, totaled $55.3 billion in 2013, up 5.2 percent from 2012 after adjusting for inflation
(figure 4). Between 2003 and 2013, foundation grantmaking increased 44.2 percent after adjusting for
inflation. Foundation assets also grew over the same period, increasing 32.2 percent from $603.8 billion
in 2003 to $798.2 billion in 2013 after adjusting for inflation.

NUMBER OF VOLUNTEERS
Volunteering is an important component of the nonprofit sector: over two-fifths of public charities rely
on volunteers.5 Using data from the Current Population Survey and the American Time Use Survey, this
section discusses the distribution of average volunteer time by activity (figure 5) as well as the number
of volunteers, the amount of hours volunteered, and the economic value of volunteer time (table 6). 6

An estimated 62.8 million adults, 25.3 percent of the US population, volunteered at least once in
2014. Although the decline from the estimated 2013 volunteer rate of 25.4 percent is statistically
insignificant, the 2014 volunteer rate is the lowest reported since 2002. The highest volunteer rate
reported since 2002 was 28.8 percent, which was achieved in three consecutive years: 2003, 2004, and
2005.

However, estimates also show that although the proportion of the population that volunteers at
least once a year declined slightly in 2014, the proportion volunteering on an average day increased. A
full 6.4 percent of the population, or 16.0 million people, volunteered on an average day in 2014. This is
an increase of almost one million people compared with 2013, and the highest proportion and number
of people volunteering on an average day since 2010.

FIGURE 4
Number of Foundations and Amount of Grants Made by Year, 2003–13
Number of foundations Grants made ($ billions)
Foundations Grants made
100,000 60.0
90,000
50.0
80,000
70,000
40.0
60,000
50,000 30.0
40,000
20.0
30,000
20,000
10.0
10,000
- 0.0
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Source: Foundation Center Growth and Giving Estimates (2015).

THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN BRIEF 2015 11

FIGURE 5
Distribution of Average Volunteer Time by Activity, 2014 (Percent)
23.8 23.5

17.8

12.9
11.5

6.7
3.2
0.4 0.1

Social Administrative Other Meetings, Travel Performing Maintenance, Public Waiting

service and conferences, and cultural building, health
and care support and training activities and and safety
cleanup

Source: Authors’ calculations based on US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey 2014.

HOURS VOLUNTEERED
The estimated number of volunteers increased only slightly in 2014 (62.8 billion volunteers) compared
with 2013 (62.6 billion). However, the number of hours volunteered increased over 5 percent between
the two years, from 8.3 billion hours in 2013 to 8.7 billion in 2014. This number of hours is the largest
estimated by the Current Population Survey since the volunteer supplement was first implemented in
2002, surpassing the previous peak of 8.5 billion hours in 2012. Volunteers averaged an estimated 139
hours a year in 2014; this number is also a record high.

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES
Figure 5 provides more information on how volunteers spent their time in 2014. The largest use of
volunteer time in 2014 was working on social service and care activities (23.8 percent). However, this is
a slight decline from the 27.5 percent used for such services in 2013. Social service and care activities
include preparing food and cleaning up, collecting and delivering clothing or other goods, providing
direct care or services, teaching, leading counseling, and mentoring. As had been the case in 2013, in
2014 administrative and support activities represented the second-largest proportion at 23.5 percent
of total volunteer time. In 2014 volunteers spent proportionally more time in meetings, conferences,
training activities, and travel than in 2013, but less time with cultural activities and maintenance or
cleaning activities.

VALUE OF VOLUNTEERING
The time volunteers spent in 2014 was worth an estimated $179.2 billion (table 6). The value of
volunteer time combined with private giving accounted for over half a trillion dollars ($537.6 billion),
and volunteer time represents 33.3 percent of that total.

12 THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN BRIEF 2015

TABLE 6
Number, Hours, and Dollar Value of Volunteers, 2008–14

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Per year
Percentage of
population volunteering 26.4 26.8 26.3 26.8 26.5 25.4 25.3
Number of volunteers 61.8 million 63.4 million 62.8 million 64.3 million 64.5 million 62.6 million 62.8 million
Hours volunteered 8.0 billion 8.1 billion 8.1 billion 8.5 billion 8.5 billion 8.3 billion 8.7 billion
Average hours per
volunteer 130 128 129 132 132 133 139

Median hours per

volunteer 52 52 52 51 50 50 50
Per average day
Percentage of
population volunteering 6.8 7.1 6.8 6.0 5.8 6.1 6.4
Number of volunteers 16.2 million 17.1 million 16.6 million 14.6 million 14.3 million 15.1 million 16.0 million

Hours per day per

volunteering 2.43 2.39 2.46 2.84 2.48 2.57 2.41
Value of volunteers
Population age 16 and
over 234.4 million 236.3 million 238.3 million 240.0 million 243.8 million 246.2 million 248.4 million

Full-time equivalent
employees 4.7 million 4.8 million 4.8 million 5.0 million 5.0 million 4.9 million 5.1million

Assigned hourly wages

for volunteers $18.08 $18.63 $19.07 $19.47 $19.75 $20.16 $20.59

Assigned value of
volunteer time $144.7 billion $150.7 billion $154.1 billion $164.8 billion $168.3 billion $167.2 billion $179.2 billion

Sources: Authors' calculations based on data from US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, Volunteer Supplement (2008–14); US
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, American Time Use Survey (2008–14); and US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Employment Statistics
(2014).

THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN BRIEF 2015 13

Conclusion
In 2013, public charities composed over two-thirds of all registered nonprofit organizations and
accounted for over three-quarters of the revenue and expenses of the nonprofit sector in the United
States. The steady growth of the early 2000s slowed between 2008 and 2013 when the recession hit
the nonprofit sector; for some subsectors (particularly the international and foreign affairs subsector
and the arts, culture, and humanities subsector) financial indicators declined. However, the sector as a
whole continues expand, with revenue, expenses, and assets all growing more than 10 percent between
2008 and 2013, after adjusting for inflation. Furthermore, after a low during the recession in 2009,
private charitable giving edged upward, growing 5.4 percent from 2013 to 2014 alone (in inflation-
adjusted dollars) and peaking at $358.38 billion. This is the fifth consecutive year that charitable giving
has risen, and the first to exceed prerecession levels, which peaked in 2007 at $355.16 billion (in 2014
dollars). Volunteering also increased in 2014, with more individuals volunteering than in 2013 and the
largest estimated number of volunteer hours (8.7 billion) since the Current Population Survey’s
volunteer supplement was implemented in 2002.

References
Foundation Center. 2015. Foundation Stats (2013). New York: Foundation Center.
http://data.foundationcenter.org/#/foundations/all/nationwide/total/list/2013.
Giving USA Foundation. 2010. Giving USA 2010: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the year 2009. Bloomington,
IN: Giving USA Foundation.
———. 2015. Giving USA: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2014 (2015). Chicago, IL: Giving USA
Foundation.

Notes
1. GDP estimates are from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and include nonprofit institutions serving
households. They exclude nonprofit institutions serving government or business. See table 1.3.5: Gross Value
Added by Sector (A) (Q) at “National Data: National Income and Product Accounts Tables,” Bureau of
Economic Analysis, accessed October 8, 2015,
http://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?ReqID=9&step=1#reqid=9&step=3&isuri=1&903=24.
2. The standard source for estimates of religious congregations is American Church Lists, a company that
provides marketing data using phone listings and other sources. The most recent estimates from American
Church Lists suggest there are about 345,000 houses of worship in the United States. Of these, approximately
235,000 are registered with the IRS, according to National Center for Charitable Statistics’s analysis of the
July 2015 IRS Business Master File. See “Church Specialty List,” InfoUSA, accessed October 8, 2015,
http://www.infousa.com/church-list.
3. All private foundations, regardless of size, are required to file a Form 990-PF. Before tax year 2010, nonprofits
with gross receipts of $25,000 or more (excluding religious congregations) were required to file a Form 990 or
Form 990-EZ. Beginning in 2010, only organizations with $50,000 or more in gross receipts (excluding
religious congregations) were required to file a Form 990 or Form 990-EZ. Organizations with less than
$50,000 in gross receipts are required to file an information return known as the Form 990-N (e-Postcard).
Filing requirements by year are available at “Which Forms Do Exempt Organizations File?” Internal Revenue
Service, accessed October 8, 2015, http://www.irs.gov/charities/article/0,,id=184445,00.html.

14 THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN BRIEF 2015

4. Table 1 shows that although the number of reporting public charities increased 23.1 percent between 2003
and 2008, number of reporting nonprofits actually fell 17.08 percent between 2008 and 2013. As noted in the
2014 edition of The Nonprofit Sector in Brief, the 2012 National Center for Charitable Statistics Core File
showed a substantial decrease from previous years. Because of IRS changes in data processing, we cannot
conclusively verify the reason for this change. However, National Center for Charitable Statistics analysis
suggests that this is likely caused by the introduction of new IRS filing guidelines and database management.
With the introduction of the 990-N e-Postcard, many smaller organizations were no longer required to file the
full Form 990 or Form 990-EZ. Form 990-N e-Postcard filers are not counted in the number of reporting
organizations given in table 1. Many organizations that had previously opted to file a Form 990 or 990-EZ
(despite being under the minimum filing threshold) instead filed a 990-N e-Postcard for the 2012 tax period
(and subsequent periods). Furthermore, the number of reporting nonprofits increased 2.3 percent between
2012 and 2013, suggesting that although IRS reporting requirements have changed, the sector continues to
grow. Thus, the decline in number of reporting organizations reported in this edition of the Nonprofit Sector in
Brief compared with editions before the 2014 edition should be understood as a reflection of the change in IRS
filing guidelines. For more information, see “Reduction in Number of Organizations in 2012 Core File
Compared to Previous Years,” National Center for Charitable Statistics, last modified September 16, 2014,
http://nccsweb.urban.org/knowledgebase/detail.php?linkID=4029&category=40023.
5. National Center for Charitable Statistics calculations of IRS Statistics of Income Division Exempt
Organizations Sample (2012).
6. As with last year’s edition, the Nonprofit Sector in Brief 2015 relies on data from the Current Population Survey
for estimates of number of hours volunteered. These numbers should not be directly compared to those from
pre-2014 editions of the brief, which relied on the American Time Use Survey for such estimates and
consequently estimated higher numbers. For more on the Current Population Survey, see “Labor Force
Statistics from the Current Population Survey,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed October 8, 2015,
http://www.bls.gov/cps/home.htm. For more on the American Time Use Survey, see “American Time Use
Survey,” Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed October 8, 2015, http://www.bls.gov/tus/home.htm.

About the Author

Brice S. McKeever is a research associate in the Center on Nonprofits and
Philanthropy at the Urban Institute, where he primarily performs quantitative research
for the center’s National Center for Charitable Statistics. Among other projects, his
work has included a series of briefs on how the Great Recession affected the nonprofit
sector; a study on potential predictors of future nonprofit failure; and a longitudinal
analysis of arts organizations in six major metropolitan areas as part of a study funded
by the National Endowment for the Arts.

THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN BRIEF 2015 15

Acknowledgments
This brief was funded by the Urban Institute. We are grateful to them and to all our funders, who make
it possible for Urban to advance its mission. Funders do not, however, determine our research findings
or the insights and recommendations of our experts. The views expressed are those of the author and
should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

ABOUT THE URBAN INST ITUTE

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economic policy. For nearly five decades, Urban scholars have conducted research
and offered evidence-based solutions that improve lives and strengthen
communities across a rapidly urbanizing world. Their objective research helps
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Washington, DC 20037
Copyright © October 2015. Urban Institute. Permission is granted for reproduction
www.urban.org of this file, with attribution to the Urban Institute.

16 THE NONPROFIT SECTOR IN BRIEF 2015