2. Charitable Giving and the Nonprofit Sector: What Tax Data Can Tell Us
Paul Arnsberger, Cynthia Belmonte, Heather Parisi, Brian Raub, and Janette Wilson Statistics of Income, IRS

3. Disclaimer
Any opinions expressed here are solely those of the authors and do not represent the position of the Internal Revenue Service or the Department of the Treasury

4. Administrative Tax Data are an Excellent Source of Information on Charitable Activity
Total contributions made by donors reported on tax returns: $211 billion
Charitable donations during life (Form 1040)
Charitable bequests at death (Form 706)
Charitable donations by corporations (Forms 1120, 1120L, and 1120PC)
Total contributions received by recipients reported on tax returns: $245 billion
Activities of charities (Forms 990 and 990-EZ)
Activities of private foundations (Form 990-PF)

5. Administrative Tax Data on Charitable Activity Have Limitations
Thresholds for filing or for capture by SOI
E.g. only estates with gross assets of $5 million or more must file Form 706
Coverage issues
E.g. churches not required to file Form 990 series returns
Reporting issues
Other issues?
Good news: a significant portion of economic activity covered is still covered by the data

6. Charitable Sector Activity, Tax Year 2011
Donor
Recipient
Individual Itemizers
(Cash)
Individual Itemizers
(Noncash)
$6.0 billion
$32.7 billion
$138.6 billion
$4.9 billion
Charities
$199.3 billion
Domestic Private Foundations
$45.7 billion $?
$13.2 billion
$9.8 billion
$5.6 billion
Other Donors
Large
Corporations
Large
Estates
Other Recipients

7. Charitable Sector Activity, Tax Year 2011
Donor
Recipient
Individual Itemizers
(Cash)
Individual Itemizers
(Noncash)
$6.0 billion
$32.7 billion
$138.6 billion
$4.9 billion
Charities
$199.3 billion
Domestic Private Foundations
$45.7 billion $?
$13.2 billion
$9.8 billion
$5.6 billion
Other Donors
Large
Corporations
Large
Estates
Other Recipients

8. Less Than 1 Percent of Filers Reported over 40 percent of Individual Noncash Contributions
46.3 million returns
$5,664 billion
$138.6 billion
$43.6 billion
AGI

9. Corporate Stock and Clothing Accounted for Most of the Value of Non-Cash Donations

10. Large Organizations, Foundations, and Educational Institutions Received 65 Percent of Non-Cash Donations

11. Charitable Sector Activity, Tax Year 2011
Donor
Recipient
Individual Itemizers
(Cash)
Individual Itemizers
(Noncash)
$6.0 billion
$32.7 billion
$138.6 billion
$4.9 billion
Charities
$199.3 billion
Domestic Private Foundations
$45.7 billion $?
$13.2 billion
$9.8 billion
$5.6 billion
Other Donors
Large
Corporations
Large
Estates
Other Recipients

12. Less than 2 percent of Estates Contributed Nearly Half of Total Bequest Value
9,447 returns
$139.1 billion
$15.4 billion
Gross Estate

13. Bequests Were Distributed Broadly for the Smallest Estates

14. Charitable Bequests to Private Foundations “Crowded Out” other Giving for the Largest Estates

15. Charitable Bequests to Private Foundations “Crowded Out” other Giving for the Largest Estates

16. Charitable Sector Activity, Tax Year 2011
Donor
Recipient
Individual Itemizers
(Cash)
Individual Itemizers
(Noncash)
$6.0 billion
$32.7 billion
$138.6 billion
$4.9 billion
Charities
$199.3 billion
Domestic Private Foundations
$45.7 billion $?
$13.2 billion
$9.8 billion
$5.6 billion
Other Donors
Large
Corporations
Large
Estates
Other Recipients

17. Corporations with $2.5 Billion or More in Assets, Less than 4 Percent of Filers, Accounted for over 80% of Contributions
45,816 returns
$60,709 billion
$18,628 billion
$13.2 billion
Assets

18. The Manufacturing Sector Made More than One Third of Total Corporate Contributions

19. Charitable Sector Activity, Tax Year 2011
Donor
Recipient
Individual Itemizers
(Cash)
Individual Itemizers
(Noncash)
$6.0 billion
$32.7 billion
$138.6 billion
$4.9 billion
Charities
$199.3 billion
Domestic Private Foundations
$45.7 billion $?
$13.2 billion
$9.8 billion
$5.6 billion
Other Donors
Large
Corporations
Large
Estates
Other Recipients

20. Charities with $10 Million or More in Assets, 8 Percent of Filers, Dominated Financial Activity
274,287 returns
$3,030 billion
$199 billion
$132 billion
Total Assets

21. Contributions Accounted for Over Half of Total Contributions and Grants Received by Charities
$10 billion
$21 billion
$169 billion

22. Charitable Contributions as a Percentage of Revenue Varied Significantly by Type of Organization

23. The Largest Organizations Received Less than 10% of Their Revenue from Contributions
Total Assets

24. Charitable Sector Activity, Tax Year 2011
Donor
Recipient
Individual Itemizers
(Cash)
Individual Itemizers
(Noncash)
$6.0 billion
$32.7 billion
$138.6 billion
$4.9 billion
Charities
$199.3 billion
Domestic Private Foundations
$45.7 billion $?
$13.2 billion
$9.8 billion
$5.6 billion
Other Donors
Large
Corporations
Large
Estates
Other Recipients

25. The Largest Private Foundations Accounted for 7% of Returns But Nearly 80% of Financial Activity
Total Assets

26. Small Foundations Relied More on Contributions Received as their Main Source of Revenue
Total Assets

27. Conclusions
Administrative tax data provide valuable information about many aspects of the charitable sector
Filing requirements often exclude many smaller filers from the data, but distributions result in inclusion of large portions of economic activity
Opportunities may exist to improve tax data for research purposes
Special thanks to Clay Moulton, Statistics of Income, for his invaluable work in designing data visualizations

28. Contact Information

29. Statistics of Income www.irs.gov/taxstats Department of the Treasury
Internal Revenue Service
Statistics of Income