Growth 1000

How the list is made

The Nonprofit Growth 1000 ranks U.S. charities by how much their revenue grew over three years. Every number comes from the organizations’ own filings with the IRS.

Eligibility

The list ranks independent charities that run their own programs. Every rule is checked against the organization’s own IRS filings.

To be eligible, an organization must

Be a 501(c)(3) public charity
Be based in the United States
Have filed a Form 990 or 990-EZ for every year from FY2022 to FY2025
Have full-year returns for FY2022 and FY2025, not a short or transition year
Have had at least $100,000 in operating revenue in FY2022
Have ended with at least $2 million in operating revenue in FY2025
Not have marked its FY2025 return as its final return

It can’t be

A K–12 or charter school
A college or university
A hospital or medical research organization
A foundation or fundraising arm of a school, college or hospital
A supporting organization, set up to support another charity
Controlled by another organization
A government unit
A donor-advised fund sponsor or community foundation
Mainly a grantmaker, with grants over 50% of its spending
A health plan
A group return that combines many affiliates

Growth

Each organization is ranked by how much its operating revenue grew over three years, from FY2022 to FY2025.

Growth FY2025operating revenue FY2022operating revenue 1

Operating revenue

The revenue we measure: what the organization raised and earned for its work.

Operating revenue Total revenuefrom the 990 Investment incomeinterest, dividends, asset sales Donated goodsfood, supplies, property Pledgescounted when the cash is received

We exclude from our calculation:

Investment income: interest, dividends, and gains from selling investments, buildings or land
Donated goods and property: food, medical supplies, real estate and other noncash gifts. Gifts of publicly traded stock still count.
Pledges of future revenue: money promised but not yet received

Pledged revenue is included in the year the cash is received.

How we count pledges

This affects 483 of the 1,000 organizations on the list.

A pledge is a gift a donor promises now and pays over several years. The 990 counts the entire pledge in the year it’s promised. We count each payment in the year the cash is received.

For example, a donor pledges $3 million in FY2022 and pays $1 million a year:

	FY2022	FY2023	FY2024
The 990 counts	$3M	$0	$0
We count	$1M	$1M	$1M

Without this, one large pledge would look like a year of rapid growth followed by a collapse.

How the rules narrowed the field

324,411 organizations filed a Form 990 or 990-EZ for both FY2022 and FY2025, and each one started as a candidate. Each rule removed some of them, in order. Select a count to see the largest organizations a rule removed.

Rule	Remaining	Share of candidates
The kind of organization
Full-year returns	321,372	99%
Filed every year	315,124	97%
501(c)(3) public charity	239,046	74%
U.S. address	238,355	73%
Not a final return	236,314	73%
Not a group return	236,147	73%
Not a hospital	232,529	72%
Not a college or university	229,241	71%
Not a supporting organization	216,533	67%
Not a college, school or hospital affiliate	208,407	64%
Not a government unit	207,853	64%
Not a donor-advised fund sponsor or community foundation	201,248	62%
Not mainly a grantmaker	181,126	56%
Not a health plan	181,120	56%
Not a K-12 school	166,526	51%
Not controlled by another organization	162,566	50%
Size
Minimum revenue in FY2022: $100,000	106,630	33%
Minimum revenue in FY2025: $2 million	24,502	8%
The list	1,000	0.3%

The 1,000 organizations left with the highest growth make the list. Ties go to the one with more revenue in the final year.

What we can’t see

Late filers. Organizations have up to 10½ months after their year ends to file, and the IRS posts filings a month or two after that. A fast grower that hasn’t filed yet can’t be ranked. We rerun the list as new filings arrive. When this list was ranked, 391,424 organizations had filed for FY2025, 69% as many as filed for FY2024. Until those filings are in, the list is provisional.
Sector codes. The IRS assigns sector codes, often long ago, and some are wrong. That’s why the rules lean on what each return reports about itself.
Judgment calls. Every threshold above is a choice. We publish how many organizations each rule removes so the choices can be checked.

Did we make a mistake?

If you think your organization belongs on the list, or we got something wrong about it, reach out. We’ll check your filings and correct the list if we missed you.