什么是非营利组织

   非营利组织(Non-Profit Organization，NPO）是指不是为组织所有者营利为目的营利组织，它的目标通常是支持或处理个人关心或者公众关注的议题、事件或活动。非营利组织所涉及的领域非常广泛，通常包括艺术、慈善、教育、政治、宗教、学术、环保等等。

   非营利组织的运作并不是为了产生利益，但是非营利组织还是必须产生收益，以提供其活动的资金。然而，将非营利组织和企业区分开来的最主要差异是：按照法律规定，非营利组织不能将盈余(Profit)分配给拥有者或股东。正是因为这一点，在美国，非盈利组织如果有盈余，盈余部分无需纳税，私人对非营利组织的捐款有时还可以扣税。

    在美国,要想成为非营利组织，必须先经国税局(Internal Revenue Service)审核批准。

   A nonprofit organization (US and UK), often called an NPO, uses its revenues to achieve its goals rather than distributing them as profit or dividends.

    Designation as a nonprofit does not mean that the organization does not intend to make a profit, but rather that the organization has no owners and that the funds realized in the operation of the organization will not be used to benefit any owners, the profit  must be retained by the organization for its self-preservation, expansion, or plans.

   NPOs have controlling members or boards. Many have paid staff including management, while others employ unpaid volunteer and even executives who work with or without compensation (occasionally nominal). Where there is a token fee, in general, it is used to meet legal requirements for establishing a contract between the executive and the organization.

   In the United States, for the nonprofit organization to be exempt from federal income taxes the organization must meet the requirements set forth by the Internal Revenue Service.