CharityIndex

Data report

State of nonprofit efficiency

How the U.S. nonprofit sector looks through the lens of IRS Form 990 data: its scale, the spread of financial grades, and where the money concentrates. 1% of graded organizations earn an A-range grade for program efficiency or financial health.

Organizations tracked

1,966,267

501(c)(3) charities

1,639,487

Combined annual revenue

$4.16T

Combined assets

$10.72T

How financial grades are distributed
A+
983 · 0.1%
A
4,580 · 0.6%
B+
1,359 · 0.2%
B
243,635 · 31.2%
C+
259,202 · 33.2%
C
98,767 · 12.6%
D
107,170 · 13.7%
F
66,173 · 8.5%

Based on 781,869 graded organizations. How grading works.

Where the money is: largest cause areas by revenue
  1. 1Health Care$1.81T · 46,087 orgs
  2. 2Education$525.5B · 185,332 orgs
  3. 3Human Services$201.8B · 155,853 orgs
  4. 4Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Grantmaking Foundations$143.4B · 105,532 orgs
  5. 5Mutual & Membership Benefit$64.9B · 17,475 orgs
  6. 6International, Foreign Affairs & National Security$64.7B · 21,599 orgs
  7. 7Community Improvement & Capacity Building$63.5B · 72,528 orgs
  8. 8Arts, Culture & Humanities$55.1B · 118,364 orgs

Notes

Figures are aggregated from the IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File and e-filed Form 990 returns, most recently for tax year 2025. Revenue and asset totals are dominated by the largest hospitals, universities and foundations, so sector averages sit far below the headline sums.

Explore the underlying data: sector trends by year, organizations by grade, and the methodology.