26 Incredible Nonprofit Statistics [2023]: How Many Nonprofits Are In The U.S.?

Business Statistics

Research Summary. Nonprofits are operations that provide accessible services for worthy causes, and they supply millions of jobs to Americans and represent a relatively huge portion of the United States GDP. Additionally, the revenue of these organizations has also more than doubled over the past decade.

There are 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the United States.
Nonprofits employ 10% of the U.S. workforce.
Nonprofits employ 7.4% of the worldwide workforce.
70% of the staff at international nonprofits are paid workers, while 29% are volunteers.
5.7% of the United States GDP comes from nonprofits.
The total U.S. nonprofit annual revenue is $2.62 trillion.

For further analysis, we broke down the data in the following ways:
Donations | Revenue | Trends and Projections
Nonprofits employ 10% of the U.S. workforce

General Nonprofit Statistics

The nonprofit sector is the 3rd largest workforce in the United States behind retail and manufacturing.
In third quarter 2022, the nonprofit sector contributed an estimated $1.5 trillion to the U.S. economy.
5.7% of the United States GDP comes from the nonprofit sector.
There are over 10 million nonprofit organizations around the world.

Nonprofit Statistics By Donations

56% of people in America donated to charity in 2021.

That’s a 1% increase from pre-pandemic rates of charitable donations by Americans.

Individuals aged 56 to 75 are the most giving generation, with 60% of baby boomers donating to charity. But Gen Z isn’t far behind. 57% of individuals aged 18 to 24 donate to charity.
45% of charitable donors worldwide are enrolled in a monthly giving program.

That’s a pretty huge percentage of people willing to take on a subscription to give money to charity on a schedule.
Only about 10% of overall nonprofit total revenue comes from individual donations.

Alternatively, 80 cents of every dollar that contribute to nonprofit revenue in the United States comes from government grants or contracts. 4% additionally comes from foundations.
Donors say that they can give up to 20% more to charity because of the potential to eliminate capital gains tax.

This makes sense considering that 89% of wealth is held in non-cash assets.
The average age of charitable donors in the United States is 64 years.

Individuals of this age usually give two charitable gifts per year.
One study found that the average charitable donation amount was $574 in 2021.

The top cause that Americans contributed to in 2021 was food banks. Followed by religious groups, animals, pandemic-related causes, and racial justice funds.

Nonprofit Statistics By Revenue

80% of all nonprofit revenue comes from government grants
In 2017, email marketing and promotion campaigns accounted for 28% of all nonprofit revenue.
The total revenue of nonprofits in the United States was 2.62 trillion as of 2016, which has doubled over the past decade.

Nonprofit Statistics By Trends and Projections

Online giving to nonprofits increased by 12.1% in 2021.

Online donations to environmental and human rights-related causes grew the most in 2021. Environmental contributions grew by 34%, and human rights donations increased by 37%.
Overall, nonprofit donations had a growth rate of 4.1% over the past year.

2021 was the sixth consecutive year of growth for U.S. nonprofit donations.
There were 1.26 million U.S. nonprofit organizations in 2000. As of 2016, there are 1.54 million nonprofits in the United States.

This means that U.S. nonprofits have grown at an annual rate of 1.3889%.
In 2000, the revenue of U.S. nonprofits was $1.15 trillion. The total revenue of U.S. nonprofits in 2016 was $2.62 trillion.

Nonprofits’ revenue in the United States has grown at an annual rate of 7.989%. The increase of nonprofit revenue has grown significantly faster than the number of total nonprofit organizations.

As of 2016, there are approximately 12.3 million jobs in U.S. nonprofit sector.

Out of the entire country, the District of Columbia (D.C.) has the highest percentage of nonprofit employment at 26%. Other states with high rates of nonprofit employment include Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York.

Alternatively, Nevada has the lowest rate of nonprofit employment at 2.7%.

Nonprofit Employment By State

State	Nonprofit as percent of total employment	Total employment	Nonprofit employment
Vermont	18.8%	254,999	48,014
Maine	18.0%	508,104	91,369
New York	17.7%	7,782,407	1,380,931
Massachusetts	17.7%	3,065,883	542,279
Rhode Island	16.5%	414,410	68,348
North Dakota	15.7%	345,688	54,238
Pennsylvania	15.6%	5,062,672	790,368
New Hampshire	14.8%	562,809	83,453
Minnesota	14.8%	2,438,627	360,461
Montana	14.7%	370,994.0	54,388
South Dakota	14.6%	347,497	50,842
Connecticut	14.6%	1,435,521	209,356
West Virginia	14.0%	546,617	76,432
Alaska	13.5%	250,255	33,786
Maryland	12.8%	2,141,805	273,355
Ohio	12.2%	4,606,685	564,039
Oregon	12.2%	1,556,370	190,124
Wisconsin	11.9%	2,447,832	291,393
Delaware	11.9%	376,028	44,707
Hawaii	11.6%	525,124	61,057
Illinois	11.3%	5,112,176	577,876
Iowa	11.3%	1,302,244	146,935
Missouri	11.2%	2,340,176	261,914
Michigan	10.8%	3,686,126	397,128
Nebraska	10.7%	807,525	86,431
Indiana	10.0%	2,595,568	259,774
Washington	9.7%	2,669,295	259,427
New Jersey	9.6%	3,382,178	323,806
Kentucky	9.5%	1,566,813	149,597
Arkansas	9.2%	993,989	91,175
Virginia	9.0%	3,095,185	277,787
Kansas	8.4%	1,129,173	94,916
North Carolina	8.4%	3,565,929	298,462
New Mexico	8.2%	627,472	51,152
Arizona	8.1%	2,294,353	186,258
Louisiana	8.0%	1,599,363	128,721
Tennessee	8.0%	2,478,737	199,487
California	7.8%	14,288,358	1,112,268
Colorado	7.7%	2,146,791	165,311
Georgia	7.4%	3,619,899	268,612
Florida	7.2%	7,262,168	521,840
Idaho	7.1%	572,321	40,466
Oklahoma	6.7%	1,252,645	84,335
Utah	6.7%	1,165,414	78,235
Mississippi	6.4%	888,986	56,883
Wyoming	6.1%	205,040	12,527
South Carolina	5.4%	1,651,309	89,729
Alabama	5.3%	1,555,542	82,861
Texas	5.1%	9,960,249	506,744
Nevada	2.7%	1,132,119	30,943

64.4 million adults volunteered at nonprofits at least once in 2017, or 25.1% of the country’s population.

The population percentage of volunteers slightly increased in 2017 from the previous year. However, the best year in the past decade for volunteering was 2009 to 2011. During this period, 26.8% of the population volunteered.
45% of surveyed nonprofit employees say they’ll likely quit their jobs by 2025, indicating high rates of burnout in these organizations.

Workers cite low pay, a lack of career growth opportunites, and poorly run organizations as their top reasons for leaving. In addition, 25% of employees who are leaving say they probably won’t look for a new job in the nonprofit sector, a further sign of burnout.

Nonprofit Statistics FAQ

How many nonprofits are there in the United States?

There are over 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the United States.

To put that number in perspective, there are around 10 million nonprofits worldwide. So, about 15% of the world’s nonprofits are based in the United States.
What percentage of the economy is nonprofit? (also answer what % of companies are nonprofit)

Nonprofit organizations represent 5.7% of the U.S. economy. Additionally, 10.2% of companies in the United States are nonprofit.
What percentage of nonprofits are successful?

Only around 50% of nonprofits are successful. According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, about 30% of nonprofits will cease to exist after ten years.
Do nonprofits really profit?

Nonprofits earn a profit, but these organizations are not running to seek profit, which sets them apart from for-profit businesses. After all, nonprofits need money to keep their operations running.

Nonprofit businesses bring in revenue from donations, but their overall purpose is to provide much-needed services to the public – not to turn a profit. A nonprofit isn’t allowed to distribute its earnings to any private individual.

This is an effort to keep nonprofits all about the public interest instead of private. Alternatively, for-profit businesses are run exclusively to make money and can give their profit to private entities or individuals.
Are nonprofits included in GDP?

Yes, nonprofits are included in the United States GDP. Nonprofits make up 5.7% of the United States GDP.

What is the most popular nonprofit organization?

The most popular nonprofit organization is Feeding America, which caters to domestic needs and received $4.06 billion in private donations in 2022.

This is followed by United Way Worldwide ($2.77 billion in private donations), St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital ($2.34 billion in private donations), Salvation Army ($2.34 billion in private donations), and Direct Relief ($2.21 billion in private donations).

Most Popular Charities to Donate To 2022

Nonprofit name	Private donations	Total revenue	Fundraising efficiency	Charitable Commitment
Feeding America	$4.06B	$4.21B	99%	99%
United Way Worldwide	$2.77B	$3.89B	88%	85%
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital	$2.34B	$2.33B	85%	69%
Salvation Army	$2.34B	$5.79B	90%	82%
Direct Relief	$2.21B	$2.22B	100%	100%
Good 360	$1.68B	$1.69B	100%	100%
Goodwill Industries International	$1.44B	$7.41B	99%	89%
YMCA of the USA	$1.41B	$7.44B	90%	84%
Habitat for Humanity International	$1.27B	$2.13B	88%	83%
Americares	$1.22B	$1.24B	99%	98%

Conclusion

Nonprofit organizations in the United States are created to serve benevolent causes and support the public community. From food banks and homelessness services to medical research and animal shelters.

Over the years, these services have become even more crucial. Today there are around 1.5 million nonprofit organizations registered in the United States. That’s about 15% of how many nonprofits there are worldwide.

Additionally, these organizations employ 10% of the workforce in the United States or about 16 million people. If that sounds huge, that’s because it is. Nonprofits represent 5.7% of the United States’ GDP.

The number of nonprofit organizations has grown at a slow and steady rate of 1.4% annually over the past 20 years. That’s a decent pace, but nothing compared to the growth of total nonprofit revenue. In 2000, the revenue of U.S. nonprofits was $1.15 trillion.

Less than two decades later, in 2016, this amount had more than doubled to reach $2.62 trillion. This is the most recent data on nonprofit revenue, so it begs the question: how much revenue are nonprofits bringing in now, more than five years later?

Nonprofits are supposed to be organizations whose primary purpose is to help instead of just making money. While this is true, nonprofits still have lots of money flowing through them to accomplish this task.

References

Candid Learning. How many nonprofit organizations are there in the US? | Knowledge base | Candid Learning. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
Independent Sector, The Charitable Sector. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
The Nonprofit Times. 7.4% Of World Workforce In Nonprofits. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
National Center for Charitable Statistics. The Nonprofit Sector in Brief 2019 | National Center for Charitable Statistics. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
Statistica. • US nonprofit organizations: revenues 2016 | Statista. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
Blackbaud Institute. Online Giving Trends – Blackbaud Institute. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
Philanthropy News Digest. Nonprofits Are America’s Third Largest Employer, Study Finds | Philanthropy news | PND. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
Foundation Group. 50 Nonprofit Facts and Statistics. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
LendingTree. 56% of Americans Donated to Charity in 2021, at an Average of $574. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
Double the Donation. Nonprofit Fundraising Statistics [Updated for 2022]. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
The Nonprofit Times. 80% Of Nonprofits’ Revenue Is From Government, Fee For Service. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
National Philanthropic Trust. Charitable Giving Statistics – NPTrust. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
Philanthropy News Digest. Online giving up more than 20 percent in 2020, report finds. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
Statistica. • US nonprofit organizations: number 2016 | Statista. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
BLS. Nonprofits account for 12.3 million jobs, 10.2 percent of private sector employment, in 2016: The Economics Daily: US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
Nanoe. Nonprofits Fail – Here’s Seven Reasons Why. Accessed on March 14, 2022.
Forbes. America’s Top 100 Charities. Accessed on March 13, 2023.
Independent Sector. Health of the U.S. Nonprofit Sector Quarterly Review. Accessed on March 13, 2023.
Forbes. 45% Of Nonprofit Employees To Seek New Jobs By 2025: Report. Accessed on March 13, 2023.

Business Statistics

Author

Sky Ariella

Sky Ariella is a professional freelance writer, originally from New York. She has been featured on websites and online magazines covering topics in career, travel, and lifestyle. She received her BA in psychology from Hunter College.

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