Civic & Social Organizations
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 24,100 civic and social organizations in the US promote the civic and social interests of members. The industry includes a wide range of organizations, including alumni groups, booster clubs, fraternal associations, scouting organizations, PTAs, fraternities and sororities, student associations, and veteran’s organizations. Civic and social groups operate as non-profit organizations and are exempt from federal income taxes.
Membership Affected by Demographic Trends
Because most civic and social groups operate locally, demographic trends in a particular market can greatly affect membership.
Reliance on Contributions
Contributions, gifts, and grants account for almost 30% of industry revenue and are the single largest source of funding for civic and social organizations.
Industry size & Structure
A typical civic or social organization operates out of a single location, employs about 11-12 workers, and generates $809,000 annually.
- The civic and social organization industry consists of 24,100 organizations that employ 274,300 workers, and generate over $19 billion annually.
- The industry includes a wide range of organizations, including alumni groups, booster clubs, fraternal associations, scouting organizations, PTAs, fraternities and sororities, student associations, and veteran's organizations.
- The industry is highly fragmented; the 50 largest organizations account for just over 15% of industry revenue.
- Large organizations include Freemasons, Boy Scouts, American Legion, and the YMCA.
- A vast majority of civic and social organizations are nonprofit.
Industry Forecast
Civic & Social Organizations Industry Growth
Recent Developments
Mar 3, 2023 - Volunteerism Varies Across Age Groups
- Limited time is the biggest barrier to volunteering, with personal family obligations (22%) and work demands (25%) cited by respondents to an American Association of Retired Persons survey as the most frequent hindrances. Adults 65 and older give the most time, spending on average 9.6 hours a month. But the youngest adults (18–34) give nearly as much time, averaging 8.9 hours a month. More than half of adults (52%) were very or somewhat interested in volunteering from home. About 52% of adults were interested in volunteering small increments of time.
- More than 23% of Americans, or 60.7 million people, formally volunteered with an organization in 2021, according to the Volunteering and Civic Life in America report released in February by AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism. More than 4.1 billion hours of service with an estimated economic value of $122.9 billion was provided. AmeriCorps estimates that nearly 51% of Americans, or 124.7 million people, informally helped their neighbors at least once in the past year.
- Federal legislation that restores tax breaks for donors and allow seniors to make tax-free withdrawals from their individual retirement accounts (IRAs) when making a contribution has been signed into law. The IRA Legacy Act, which is included in the omnibus spending bill signed into law in late December 2022, would allow senior citizens to make a tax-free withdrawal from an IRA of up to $400,000 if the money was going to a charity. An attachment to the tax bill reinstates a charitable tax deduction of $300 for single filers and $600 for joint filers, according to lobbyists for the sector.
- Philanthropy is increasingly leaning on donations from a few wealthy donors who make 10-figure gifts, according to experts. MacKenzie Scott has given away over $12 billion in just the past few years. Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates gifted $15 billion to their own foundation in 2021. Elon Musk appeared to have given away over $5 billion late last year, but the money may have gone into a donor-advised fund (DAF), an increasingly popular (and controversial) mode of giving among the rich. DAFs aren’t required to distribute a certain amount of their fund every year, while private foundations have to disburse at least 5% of their endowment. The money could, in theory, sit in a DAF forever while the donor’s tax liability shrinks. The National Philanthropic Trust reports that DAFs received about $25 billion in contributions in 2016. They got almost $48 billion in 2021.
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