Nonprofit Organizations: Overview
Nonprofit organizations include everything from neighborhood associations that meet a couple of times a year and have no assets to Harvard University and the Gates Foundation, each with tens of billions in assets. They include soup kitchens and traditional "charities" that serve the poor as well as your local church, the Chamber of Commerce, the Sierra Club, the United Steel Workers labor union, and the Metropolitan Opera. As you can see, there's no "one-size-fits-all" way to think about nonprofit organizations.
So we categorize. Nonprofit organizations can be divided by the subsection of the United States Internal Revenue Code 501(c) under which they fall. Click on the categories below to learn more:
US Nonprofit Organizations 2015
501(c)(3) Organizations
501(c)(3) Public Charities
1,076,309 organizations
Large orgs
- Hospitals
- Colleges
- Human services
- Museums
- Community foundations
- Many others
Small Orgs
- Community theaters
- Neighborhood orgs
- New organizations
- Many others
Congregations
501(c)(3) Private Foundations
103,430 organizations
Grantmaking foundations
Operating foundations
501(c)(4) Social Welfare Orgs
83,768 organizations
- Civic associations
- Service clubs
- Advocacy orgs
- HMOs & managed care plans
- Many others
501(c)(6) Business Leagues
63,468 organizations
- Chambers of commerce
- Business associations
- Boards of trade
- Professional sports leagues
501(c)(5) Agricultural, Horticultural & Labor Orgs
46,348 organizations
- Farm bureaus
- Labor unions
- Labor organizations
- Many others
501(c)(7) Social & Recreation Clubs
47,594 organizations
- Country & golf clubs
- Fraternities & sororities
- Athletic clubs
- Alumni clubs
- Many others
501(c)(8) Fraternal Beneficiary Societies & Associations
45,898 organizations
- Fraternal organizations
- Lodges
- Benefit providers
- Insurers
- Many others
501(c)(10) Domestic Fraternal Societies & Associations
16,258 organizations
501(c)(13) Cemetery Companies
8,972 organizations
501(c)(19) Post or Organization of War Veterans
29,588 organizations
Other Exempt Organizations
27,663 organizations
Unregistered Organizations
Total Unknown