Big Fish, Little Fish: In the Foundation-Nonprofit Relationship, Does Size Matter? - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.

Big Fish, Little Fish: In the Foundation-Nonprofit Relationship, Does Size Matter? - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.: n the nonprofit ocean, there are big fish and little fish. The biggest fish are typically well-capitalized foundations. The little fish are small-budget nonprofits. There is a vast social asymmetry between most private foundations and public charities. According to information drawn from the IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File (available through the “NCCS All Registered Nonprofits Table Wizard” of the Urban Institute), public charities are predominantly very small. Two-thirds of public charities that filed 990s have assets of less than $100,000; three-fourths have assets below $250,000. Similar proportions of public charities have total revenues below $100,000 and below $250,000.