Public Charity Expenses (U.S., Annual)

## What this measures

Total expenses (Form 990 Part I, line 18; Form 990-EZ line 17) of every 501(c)(3) organization filing Form 990 or 990-EZ. A tax year is the year a return's tax period begins; it is published once the IRS has posted the two following years of returns. E-filing became required for tax years from 2020, so the series starts there. Tax year 2021 is left out: the IRS's 2022 e-file release holds about two-thirds of the returns its own index lists, so roughly 30% of 2021 returns are missing from the public data. A year is published only when at least 97% of the returns the IRS index lists for it were read.

## Why it matters

Expenses are what charities spend on programs, staff and running costs: the nonprofit sector's contribution to demand.

## How to read it

The series starts in tax year 2020 at $2.47 trillion. The latest reading, for tax year 2024, is $3.38 trillion. The high is $3.38 trillion (tax year 2024) and the low $2.47 trillion (tax year 2020).

## What it does not say

Charity totals count money that passes from one charity to another (grants, federated campaigns) more than once.

## Source

IRS Form 990 series e-file returns (Forms 990 and 990-EZ) and the IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File (NTEE codes), tax years 2020 on, read and totalled by Palanor. U.S. Government work, public domain. Source: Internal Revenue Service.