About the data

Where it comes from

Most US tax-exempt organizations file an annual information return with the IRS: Form 990 (larger organizations), Form 990-EZ (smaller ones) or Form 990-PF (private foundations). These returns are public. The IRS publishes the ones filed electronically as XML files on its Form 990 series downloads page. This site reads every return in those files and keeps each organization's most recent one. The Exempt Organizations Business Master File adds each organization's category (NTEE code).

What the numbers mean

• Rank: by total revenue on the latest return.
• Which organizations get a page: the top 10% by total assets of organizations with at least $10,000,000 in total revenue, plus the top 100 list.
• Salary base: Form 990 Part IX lines 5, 6 and 7, which is pay to officers and directors, to disqualified persons, and all other salaries and wages. Benefits, pensions and payroll taxes are shown separately as "salaries, other pay and benefits" (Part I line 15). For Form 990-EZ the IRS asks for one combined figure. For Form 990-PF it is officers' pay plus other employee salaries and wages.
• Top 10 paid: the ten highest totals among the people the return lists in Form 990 Part VII. Totals add reportable pay from the organization, reportable pay from related organizations, and other pay (such as deferred pay and benefits). Organizations must list officers, directors and trustees, key employees, and their five highest paid employees earning over $100,000. Pay from related organizations does not come out of the salary base, so the "top 10 share" can overstate slightly when it is large.
• Employees: the number of W-2s the organization filed for the calendar year, which counts part time and seasonal staff the same as full time.
• Leadership: current officers, key employees, and directors and trustees (people marked as an individual or institutional trustee or director) listed in Form 990 Part VII. On Form 990-EZ and 990-PF there are no such marks, so this site reads the title. Former officers are left out. "None reported" means the return shows no pay for them.
• Other people listed: returns also list highly paid employees and former officers. They appear only if they are among the top 10 paid. The full list is in the return, linked under Sources on each organization page.

Limits

• Only electronically filed returns are included. Almost all large organizations e-file, as the law has required since tax years beginning after July 1, 2019.
• Churches and some religious organizations do not have to file, and do not appear.
• Hospitals, universities and others often split into several related organizations, each with its own return. Each is ranked on its own.
• Figures are as filed and are not audited or corrected here.