INCREDIBLE NONPROFIT STATISTICS [2023]

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, these organizations’ revenue has 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.

GENERAL NONPROFIT STATISTICS

• The nonprofit sector is the 3rd largest workforce in the United States, behind retail and manufacturing.
• In the third quarter of 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 Americans’ pre-pandemic rates of charitable donations.
• Individuals aged 56 to 75 are the most giving generation, with 60% of baby boomers donating to charity. But Gen Z is just a little 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 considerable 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 contributing 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 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 generous 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 annually at 1.3889%.