Center for Non-Profits - Some Facts about New Jersey's Non-Profit Organizations

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Some Facts about New Jersey's Non-Profit Organizations

There are over 17,000 charitable non-profit organizations in New Jersey (excluding churches). Their missions are diverse, but some of the greatest concentrations include education; human services (such as day care, elder care, food assistance, transitional housing, shelters for the homeless or for battered women, literacy training, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, job training); and health care. Other traditional non-profit activities include housing and community development, arts and culture, environmental protection, and research.
Non-profits are a vital part of our state's economy. New Jersey non-profits filing financial statements with the IRS* showed combined revenues of $32.3 billion and assets of $38.2 billion based on reports filed for fiscal years ended 1996 and 1997.
According to Census data released in 1994, more than 240,000 people, or approximately 6% of our state's work force, are employed by non-profit organizations in New Jersey. Women comprise 65% of New Jersey's non-profit work force, compared with 46% in the for-profit sector.
The greatest proportion of non-profit organizations are small, with annual budgets of less than $100,000.
Nationally, according to Independent Sector, non-profit organizations earn 39% of their income from private payments (primarily dues and fees for services), 31% from government sector payments, and 18% from private contributions, although these proportions vary greatly depending upon the type of organization. Of the contributions section, over 80% comes from individuals.
In the U.S., an estimated 89 million adults-48% of the population-volunteered an average of 4 hours per week in 1994.
According to financial reports filed in 1995 with the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, New Jersey non-profits spent 77% of their total revenue on program services in their most recent fiscal year--well over widely accepted national standards of 50%-60%.

*Religious organizations and non-profits with less than $25,000 annual revenues are exempt from filing federal tax returns.

More NJ Non-Profit Facts:

New Jersey's Non-Profit Sector: Strong and Growing
New Jersey's Non-Profit Sector: An Economic Force
New Jersey's Non-Profit Sector: Supported by the People
New Jersey's Non-Profit Sector: Distribution by Annual Income
New Jersey's Non-Profit Sector: Diverse Missions

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