We've all heard of non profit organizations, and likely have a general
understanding of what the term means, but do feel you have a really
good understanding of what a non profit actually is?
Essentially a non profit (sometimes called "not-for-profit")
organization is an organization which enjoys tax exempt status as
a result of being organized to serve the public interest. Generally
the non-profit's primary purpose is to support an issue of public
concern for non-commercial purposes. These usually fall into broad
classifications of the arts, charities, religion, research, education
or even politics.
As the name implies, non-profits are not trying to turn a profit
on their activities. However, like all organizations they do have
to generate revenues to fund their operations. The primary sources
of funds for non profits are funding from government and/or private
donors, with the inducement for private donors being that donations
to the non profit are likely tax deductible.