A non-profit organization (NPO), also known as a non-business entity, is dedicated to furthering a particular social cause or advocating for a shared point of view. In economic terms, it is an organization that uses its surplus revenues to further achieve its ultimate objective, rather than distributing its income to the organization's shareholders, leaders, or members. Non-profits are tax exempt or charitable, meaning they do not pay income tax on the money that they receive for their organization. They can operate in religious, scientific, research, or educational settings.
The key aspects of nonprofits is accountability, trustworthiness, honesty, and openness to every person who has invested time, money, and faith into the organization. Nonprofit organizations are accountable to the donors, funders, volunteers, program recipients, and the public community. Public confidence is a factor in the amount of money that a nonprofit organization is able to raise. The more nonprofits focus on their mission, the more public confidence they will have, and has a result, more money for the organization. Public confidence has decreased since the September 11 attacks, but in recent surveys, it has been found that the confidence is seeing slight rises. The more confidence the nonprofit has, the more funders, supporters, and the more volunteers it will have. The activities a nonprofit is partaking in can help build the public’s confidence in nonprofits, as well as how ethical the standards and practices are.
According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS), there are more than 1.5 million non-profit organizations registered in the United States, including public charities, private foundations, and other non-profit organizations. Contributions to different charities reached $358.38 billion in 2014, which was an increase of 7.1% from the 2013 estimates. Out of these contributions, Religious organizations received 32%, educational institutions received 15%, and human service organizations received 12%. Between September 2010 and September 2014, approximately 25.3% of Americans over the age of 16 volunteered for a non-profit
Non-profits are not driven by generating profit, but they must produce enough income to pursue their social duties. Non-profits are able to raise money in four different ways. This includes income from donations from private donors or organizations, government funding, income from their sales or services, and income from investments. Each NPO is unique in which source of income works best for them. With an increase in NPO’s within the last decade, organizations have adopted competitive advantages to create revenue for themselves to remain financially stable. Donations from private individuals or organizations can change each year and government grants have diminished. With changes in funding from year to year, NPO’s become efficient in one of the four ways to gain revenue. Trying to use multiple forms of creating revenue can increase an NPO’s costs and they can lose money.