National Nonprofit Day Date in the current year: August 17, 2024

A nonprofit organization is a legal entity that operates for a collective, public or social benefit, in contrast to a business that operates to generate a profit for its owners. Common nonprofit organizations include charitable organizations, labor unions, public schools, public clinics, research institutions, volunteer service organizations, legal aid societies, religious organizations, museums, social welfare organizations, social advocacy groups, social and recreational clubs, and more.

All nonprofits can be divided into two big groups: member-serving and community-serving. Member-serving nonprofits focus on creating benefits for their members. Examples of member-serving nonprofits include advocacy groups, sports clubs, and labor unions. Community-serving nonprofits focus on providing services (healthcare, educational, etc.) to the local or global community. Some nonprofits are both member-serving and community-serving.

Although nonprofits are not meant to generate profit, they must have enough income in order to pursue their goals and benefit their members and/or the community. Their sources of income may include government funding, grants, donations from various foundations or individual donors, investments, sponsorship deals, paid programs and services, and merchandise sales. Since funding may change year to year, many nonprofits work to diversify their revenue sources.

There is a common misconception that nonprofits are entirely run by volunteers. While many of them rely on volunteers quite a bit, most nonprofits have paid staff that work for the company, run day-to-day operations, and manage volunteers. Of course, these people deserve to make a living wage, but nonprofits must be careful to keep their salary expenses reasonable. More often than not, they have to walk a fine line between keeping their operating expenses down and attracting qualified employees.

National Nonprofit Day was established in 2017 by Sherita J. Herring, a renowned speaker, business strategist, nonprofit expert, and best-selling author. She launched it to educate the general about the importance of nonprofits, empower people to make a difference, and acknowledge those who have been working to make our world a better place.

Herring decided to celebrate National Nonprofit Day in August for a reason: it commemorates the Revenue Act of 1894, also known as the Wilson-Gorman Tariff Act. This act laid the foundation of tax exemption granted to charitable and voluntary organizations.

There are many ways to get involved with National Nonprofit Day. You can give a shout-out to your favorite nonprofits on social media (don’t forget to add the hashtags #NationalNonprofitDay and #NNDay to help spread the word), donate to or volunteer for a nonprofit that supports a cause close to your heart, organize a charity event in your community, or even start your own nonprofit.