The nonprofit universe is vast and varied. According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, more than 1.5 million nonprofit organizations are registered in the U.S. This number includes public charities, private foundations and a wide array of other nonprofit organizations like civic leagues, fraternal organizations and even local chambers of commerce. Because we work every day with a variety of nonprofits all across the country, it is important for us at Global Vision Technologies to have a clear picture of the nonprofit universe in order to gain insight into the challenges nonprofits face. Here is the nonprofit big picture.

Size

For profit corporations are often measured by the size of their revenues. Since nonprofits do not have “revenues” in the strictest sense, we measure nonprofits by the size of their annual operating budget. Some smaller organizations operate on a modest $1 million annual budget while others exceed $5 billion.

65% of all nonprofits operate on a budget under $5 million. 78% are under $10 million. These stats tell us that the nonprofit world is similar to the small business community and face many of the same challenges.

Funding Sources

Where do all these nonprofit small businesses get the funds to operate? Let’s take a look.

Individual donors are clearly the most important fundraising component. This metric means that new social media fundraising techniques loom very large in the modern nonprofit world.

What Are They Up To?

The variety of nonprofit “missions” is, in fact, endless. With 1.5 million nonprofit organizations registered to do business, one can only imagine the worthy causes they pursue. Here’s a handy profile.

What Are They Concerned With?

Large and small, religious, civic, public or private, nonprofits all share certain concerns. The top 4 financial concerns are:

At a Glance

The vast nonprofit universe comes into better focus after glancing at the metrics above. As the industry begins to see the big picture more clearly, cooperation rather than competition is becoming the new normal.