These files contain the data displayed in the Nonprofit Trends Tracker. The data come from the National Survey of Nonprofit Trends and Impacts, which is administered annually by the Urban Institute, George Mason University, and American University. It is a nationally representative survey of 501(c)(3) public charities with annual expenses and revenues of $50,000 or more that primarily receive rather than provide funds and engage in a wide range of activities (hereafter called “nonprofits”). The survey excludes foundations, hospitals, higher education institutions, schools (day cares, preschools, and K–12 schools), churches and other houses of worship, and other nonprofits with unique business models and contexts. The data are reported by the leaders (defined as CEOs, executive directors, or equivalents) of nonprofits that meet the survey criteria and are randomly selected to receive the survey.

The data have been weighted to account for the sample design and nonresponse and to ensure they are representative. That the data are representative means they do not only represent the nonprofits that responded to the survey. Instead, the data can be generalized to all similar nonprofits nationally, regionally, in available states, in urban and rural areas, and to all nonprofits in the same subsector or of the same size. For some combinations of variables in the dropdowns, we may not have sufficient data to generate a chart. In addition, some data may be missing in a specific year because of variation in the survey questions asked year to year. For more information, see our survey methodology.

Regions and urban or rural designations are defined by the US Census Bureau. Each nonprofit in the sample is sorted into a region and categorized as urban or rural based on its address in the June 2024 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Exempt Organizations Business Master File. “Survey year” refers to the year when the survey was administered to nonprofit leaders, though the survey also asks questions about periods outside the survey year. The time frame for each metric is in the chart title. When no time frame is given, the metric reflects the survey year. “Size of annual expenses” is based on nonprofits’ total annual expenses as reported on the most recently available IRS Form 990 (from 2020 to 2022). We define nonprofit subsectors using organizations’ National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities codes, as listed on the June 2024 IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File. Note the “education” subsector excludes higher education institutions and schools, and the “health” subsector excludes hospitals. Metrics that include “estimate” reflect survey questions for which nonprofits could respond with an estimate.

For more information, please see the technical appendix.