 | | Good Neighbor Tool Kit: Leading a Charity Nonprofit Nuts and Bolts | | ||
|  Nonprofit Nuts and Bolts The Art of Fundraising Recruiting Volunteers and Keeping Them Happy Marketing and Public Relations Leadership and the Board Good Neighbor Tool Kit Main Page Good Neighbor Home Page | The Nonprofit Sector and You If you’re thinking about becoming a volunteer leader or launching your own philanthropic venture, you should know something about the nonprofit sector to decide how you’ll best fit into that world. Let’s take a look at some statistics compiled by the Independent Sector. There were about 1.5 million U.S. nonprofit organizations in 2002. Of these, 1.2 million were charitable, social welfare, or faith-based organizations formally designated as tax exempt by the Internal Revenue Service. Some 10.9 million people were employed in tax-exempt organizations, and their work was supported by the efforts of 109.4 million volunteers. An impressive 70.1 percent of the nation’s 102.5 million households reported making a contribution to one or more tax-exempt organizations in 1998. By far, the greatest amount is given annually to religious organizations. Other recipients are, in descending order, human service, health, education, youth development, arts and humanities, and environmental organizations. Annual revenues for all nonprofits totaled about $670 billion. Revenues came from a combination of earned income, governmental support, private contributions, and miscellaneous other sources. Private contributions accounted for about 20 percent of the total income. In spite of its huge scale, the nonprofit sector embraces organizations of all sizes and degrees of sophistication. There are the great established nonprofit institutions—universities, hospitals, museums, and so forth. As well, there are myriad smaller organizations that, while more limited in scope and impact, are important to the communities they serve. And more nonprofits are established every year. Launching Your Own Organization > | |