The Chronicle’s America’s Favorite Charities ranking lists the U.S. nonprofits that raise the most in gifts of cash and stock. It excludes government grants and donated products. The goal: to identify cause-driven organizations that most successfully earn direct financial support from individuals, foundations, and corporations.
Data used in the ranking was compiled from Internal Revenue Service Form 990 filings, audited financial statements, annual reports, and surveys sent to tax-exempt organizations. In addition, college results were drawn from the Voluntary Support of Education survey, which is conducted by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
The data is from 2020.
What Is Not Included
The Chronicle reported only on nonprofits that solicit donations from the public. Private foundations were excluded, as were organizations based abroad and any overseas affiliates of domestic groups. We did not include nonprofits controlled by government agencies.
In calculating cash support, when we could determine which gifts to an organization went to its donors-advised funds, we excluded them.. The ranking aims to measure the American public’s support of specific causes and organizations, and donor-advised accounts are charitable-giving vehicles, not organizations with a social mission. The community foundations that appear in the ranking raised enough cash support outside their donor-advised funds to be included. Nonprofits such as Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, which bring in enormous sums through contributions to their donor-advised accounts, typically do not raise enough money outside of those accounts to appear in this ranking.
Data Collection
To provide data, some charities relied on draft 990s or unaudited financial statements. Figures that are estimates are noted. When organizations revise their prior-year figures, the Chronicle updates its database to reflect those changes.
Because fiscal years vary, the figures in this report do not always cover the same time period.
Colleges and Universities
For private and public colleges and universities, the Chronicle used data from the annual Voluntary Support of Education survey. Those figures are based on a different methodology than that used on the 990. Form 990 filers (and respondents to our survey) generally count pledges in the current year, while the Voluntary Support of Education survey asks colleges to include only donations received and not unfulfilled pledges.
America’s Favorite Charities relies data from the Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System to calculate total revenue for colleges and universities. Its annual surveys collect information from every higher-education institution that participates in federal student financial-aid programs. These revenue figures come from the 2020 academic year, the latest for which full data is available. The total-revenue figures for private nonprofit institutions, as well as several public colleges and universities, were compiled using the Financial Accounting Standards Board standards and include total income and investment return. Other revenue for public institutions was compiled using the Governmental Accounting Standards Board guidelines.
