non-profit organization


An incorporated organization which exists for educational or charitable reasons, and from which its shareholders or trustees do not benefit financially.

Any money earned by a non-profit organization must be retained by the organization, and used for its own expenses, operations, and programs. Many non-profit organizations also seek tax exempt status, and may also be exempt from local taxes including sales taxes or property taxes. Well-known non-profit organizations include Habitat for Humanity, American Red Cross, and United Way.

Also called not-for-profit organization.

Use this term in a sentence

National Wildlife Federation is a non-profit organization that works to preserve endangered wildlife while also educating others on the importance of nature.


My partner and I finally decided that we wanted to form a non-profit organization after discussing what our goals for the future were.


In order to reverse the contraction of the print news business in the late 2000s, Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland introduced a bill that would ease the process for a newspaper to become a non-profit organization, which would greatly reduce or eliminate the tax liability for the newspaper.


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National Introducing Brokers Association (NIBA) 403(b) plan