New Nonprofit Almanac Gives Detailed Information on Size and Scope of Sector; Resource Provides New Insights Into How Nonprofits Work

3/12/2002

From: Carla Bundy or Patricia Nash, 202-467-6100 both of the Independent Sector Susan Brown of the Urban Institute, 202-833-7200 Web: www.IndependentSector.org www.urban.org

WASHINGTON, March 12 -- A new resource released today by Independent Sector and the Urban Institute provides a one-stop reference on nonprofit organizations and their expanding role in the nation's economic and civil life.

The New Nonprofit Almanac & Desk Reference provides managers, researchers, volunteers and the press with the essential facts and figures needed to understand the size, scope and nature of the sector and its contributions to American society.

The Almanac documents the growth and diversity of the more than 1. 2 million organizations that comprise the independent sector in America. These organizations have experienced phenomenal growth over the years. From 1987 to 1997, the number of public charities, for instance, increased at an annual rate of 5.1 percent, more than double the growth rate of the business sector.

In addition to the growth in the number of organizations, the total annual revenue of the independent sector increased from $412 billion in 1987 to an estimated $665 billion in 1997.

"The Nonprofit Almanac documents the vital role and value of nonprofit organizations," said Sara E. Melindez, president and CEO, Independent Sector. "If recent trends are any indication, the sector's role will continue to expand as the nation works its way out of a struggling economy," Melindez added.

"For the first time, newly available data from the Form 990s, filed by U.S. charities, have been included in the Almanac," said Elizabeth Boris, director of the Urban Institute's Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy. "This information provides detailed expense and revenue breakouts for different types of organizations, and gives us new insights into how nonprofits operate," continued Boris.

The Nonprofit Almanac charts and describes the activities and developments in the independent sector from 1977 to 1998. It includes charitable giving and volunteering, employment trends, revenue sources and trends, and provides a statistical profile of the sector's place in the U.S. economy as well as in society.

Contributions of the arts and culture, education and research, health services, religious organizations, and social and legal services subsectors are profiled in detail in the Almanac. While each sector has experienced varying degrees of growth and revenue, the health services and education and research subsectors dominate in total annual revenue and numbers of paid employees.

As detailed in the Almanac:

-- The independent sector employs 10.9 million workers.

-- Health services has the largest share of total annual revenue. Its 1997 total of $326 billion accounted for 49 percent of total revenue for the whole sector.

-- Forty-three percent of independent sector workers were employed in health services in 1998, down from 47 percent in 1992.

-- In 1997, the education and research subsector had total revenues of $119 billion and 22 percent of independent sector workers.

The Nonprofit Almanac underscores that giving and volunteering are the lifeblood of independent sector organizations. Private charitable contributions, government payments and private payments from dues and fees for program services all provide revenue to the sector. With these funds, independent sector organizations provide a host of medical, cultural, educational and social services to millions of people.

In 1998:

-- Eighty-five percent of all private giving, or about $151 billion, came from contributions and bequests of individuals.

-- Foundations gave $19.5 billion, which accounted for 10 percent of all private giving.

-- Total corporate giving reached $8.9 billion.

A major component of giving is donating one's time. In 1998:

-- Fifty-five percent of the adult population volunteered.

-- Seventy-four percent of volunteer time was spent in nonprofit sector organizations, 16 percent in government and 10 percent in the for-profit sector.

The Nonprofit Almanac has been published since 1984. Priced at $38 ($28.00 for Independent Sector members), the Almanac will be available through Independent Sector (888-860-8118), the Urban Institute and Jossey-Bass Publishers. The executive summary will be posted on www.IndependentSector.org and www.urban.org. Complimentary copies are available for the press.

Funding for analysis for the Nonprofit Almanac was provided by The Atlantic Philanthropies, Ford Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Lilly Endowment, Inc., Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and the members of Independent Sector.

------ Independent Sector is a nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition of more than 700 national organizations, foundations, and corporate philanthropy programs, collectively representing tens of thousands of charitable groups in every state across the nation. Its mission is to promote, strengthen, and advance the nonprofit and philanthropic community to foster private initiative for the public good.

The Urban Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan policy research and education organization that examines the social, economic, and governance problems facing the nation and the world.