The number of charities and private foundations registered with the Internal Revenue Service increased by 4.3 percent from 2008 to 2009, reaching a total of more than 1.2 million, according to figures released by the tax agency.
The percentage increase was slightly less than the rate that had been reported for the two previous years.
The IRS figures show that the number of groups classified under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code rose by 51,286 between 2008 and 2009.
In 2009, a total of 1,238,201 charities and foundations were registered with the federal government, compared with 1,186,915 in 2008.
The number of groups classified under Section 501(c)(3) has increased by nearly 90 percent since 1996, when the IRS counted a total of 654,186 of them.
The number of all charitable organizations increased by 5.2 percent from 2007 to 2008; 6 percent from 2006 to 2007; 1.7 percent from 2005 to 2006; 3.5 percent from 2004 to 2005; and 4.8 percent from 2003 to 2004.
In 2009, 70,623 groups applied to the IRS for charity status. The IRS approved 42,484 applications and denied 472. The remaining 27,667 applications fell through for a variety of reasons. For example, some organizations withdrew their applications or failed to furnish required information.
The IRS acknowledges that an unknown number of the groups classified under Section 501(c)(3) of the tax code are still on the agency’s books, even though they have shut down.
The statistics from the IRS show that the total number of tax-exempt organizations classified under all parts of Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code rose by 61,662, or 3.6 percent, from 2008 to 2009.
The statistics were published in the Internal Revenue Service’s Data Book for 2009, in tables 24 and 25.
2 Responses to Number of Charities and Foundations Passes 1.2 Million
geristengel - March 17, 2010 at 9:55 am
GivingUSA says charitable giving was down in 2008 for the first time since 1987 and that 2/3 of public charities experienced a decline in giving. The Foundation Center reports that giving went down again in 2009 and will be worse in 2010.Yet our the number of nonprofits competing for those declining funds is increasing. Is this a sign that more nonprofit services are needed? Or, are the services in place just not able to deal with a growing population, especially during a great economic contraction?Or, maybe it’s a problem we can do something about. If the growth in nonprofits is a sign that we are diluting our energies and Balkanizing services, maybe we should view the economic crunch as a time to try new strategies, to look around for partners, strategic alliances, and better ways to consolidate and deliver services.
bill__huddleston - March 17, 2010 at 1:16 pm
I think that there are additional factors at work, including an increasing number of problems to be solved, as problems are recognized and become more prevalent due to any number of factors, including demographic or evironmental factors. For example, without knowing the precise numbers I’m certain that there are now more non-profits dealing with autism including both the behavioral and coping side as well as the medical research side than there were 30 years ago.I also think that the IRS is overstating by a significant percentage the number of non-profits that actually still exist. My prediction is that once the new 990 cycle is completed a number of “file cabinet” non-profits will drop from the stated total. My prediction is that the number that will be dropped is 250,000 but it will take 3 years to see if that is accurate. (With the new 990s once a non-profit fails to file for 3 years in a row, it is considered defunct.)Regards,Bill Huddlestonwww.cfcfundraising.com