Although nonprofit is often considered to be synonymous with tax-exempt, many nonprofit organizations earn revenues from unrelated taxable activities, and on average these taxable activities generate $1.5 million in revenues. Policymakers have expressed concern that the pursuit of unrelated...

Abstract: Various users rely on nonprofit financial information for investing, contracting, and regulating decisions. The ratio of reported charitable to total expenses is one of the most widely used metrics to measure nonprofit performance. Prior research shows that many nonprofit organizations...

Although not-for-profit organizations are generally exempted from income taxation, they are subject to tax on profits generated by activities unrelated to their primary exempt purpose. The purpose of the tax on unrelated income is to prevent unfair competition with for-profit entities and to...

The non-profit sector in the United States owns investment assets of about $1 trillion. Nearly half of these assets are owned by private foundations. The tax law requires that private foundations spend at least five percent of their assets each year on charitable purposes. Despite this minimum...

This paper examines how nonprofit organizations respond to incentives to manage their publicly available financial information. Prior research identifies two operating ratios donors commonly use to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of nonprofits (i.e., the program service ratio, defined...

Prior research finds that donors reward nonprofits that report larger program ratios with more donations and that managers overstate these ratios, ostensibly to attract donations. We examine how donors react to inflated ratios. We find that the average donor discounts ratios that are inflated by...

Prior research indicates that donations respond to price and income effects as well as to alternative sources of nonprofit financing. Using a database of confidential nonprofit tax returns, we examine the effects of nonprofits' taxable activities on the supply of donations. We find that each...

The topic of nonprofit commercialization has received increased attention from various groups including donors, regulators, and researchers. Perhaps the most commercial of all activities undertaken by nonprofits are those considered to be so far removed from an organization's exempt mission that...

Prior research indicates that donations respond to price and income effects as well as to alternative sources of nonprofit financing. Using a database of confidential nonprofit tax returns, we examine the effects of nonprofits' taxable activities on the supply of donations. We find that each...

Nonprofit organizations operate taxable activities in two general ways: as unrelated businesses operated by the nonprofit or through controlled subsidiaries. Prior research and regulatory attention has focused on unrelated business activities, although taxable subsidiaries generate at least as...