Nonprofit Statistics

Nonprofits report being "cut to the bone" in their budgets and fundraising results have not improved over the past year. Nonprofit organizations, particularly smaller entities, are struggling to secure funding for the vital services they provide in their communities. The Late Fall 2011 Nonprofit Fundraising Study examines fundraising results and their implications for organizational operations, and alerts managers and donors alike to consider the priorities facing the nonprofit sector in 2012 and beyond. The survey represents a unique collaboration by the Urban Institute's National Center for Charitable Statistics with Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Giving USA Foundation, Blackbaud, and GuideStar.

More than 1.4 million nonprofit organizations were registered with the Internal Revenue Service in 2009, 19 percent above 1999. How much do you know about the nonprofit sector?

This brief highlights trends from the eighth edition of The Nonprofit Almanac 2011, prepared by the National Center for Charitable Statistics at the Urban Institute. We highlight the growth in the number and finances of 501(c)(3) public charities, as well as key findings on private charitable contributions and volunteering.

As the fourth quarter of 2011 begins—typically the most important time of year for fundraising—fewer than half of surveyed nonprofits reported fundraising increases during the first half of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010. This report from the Nonprofit Research Collaborative fundraising survey discussing changes in giving in the first half of 2011, fundraising methods, investments in fundraising, and campaigns. The survey represents a unique collaboration by the Urban Institute's National Center for Charitable Statistics with Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Foundation Center, Giving USA Foundation, Blackbaud, and GuideStar.

The Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute and the Association of Fundraising Professionals established the Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP) to conduct research on fundraising effectiveness (maximizing growth), and help nonprofit organizations increase their fundraising results. The basic FEP concept is that overall growth in giving from one year to the next is the net of gains minus losses, and can be increased most effectively by reducing losses. Piloted in November 2006, FEP collects and publishes annual fundraising data from nonprofit organizations enabling them to measure and compare their fundraising gains and losses to those of similar organizations. This article describes Growth-in-Giving (GiG) reports–a simple, reader-friendly format that provides a picture of fundraising gains and losses. The article illustrates scenarios that support growth-oriented fundraising strategies