Balance Sheet Insolvency and Contribution Revenue in Public Charities

Working Paper No. 26546 Using Form 990 data reported by public charities, we document significant bunching of nonprofits at near-zero net assets, the threshold for insolvency. Bunching occurs despite the fact that creditors cannot force insolvent nonprofits into involuntary bankruptcy. We show that...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:NBER Working Paper Series 2019-12, p.26546
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Charities
Economic theory
Foundations
Insolvency
Nonprofit organizations
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Summary:Working Paper No. 26546 Using Form 990 data reported by public charities, we document significant bunching of nonprofits at near-zero net assets, the threshold for insolvency. Bunching occurs despite the fact that creditors cannot force insolvent nonprofits into involuntary bankruptcy. We show that the extent of bunching is greater among organizations that rely more heavily on contribution revenue, and that by inflating their net assets, bunching organizations are able to increase their contribution revenue relative to firms that report negative net assets. Charitable donors appear to use the net assets threshold as heuristic for a charity's financial health; nonprofit managers, in turn, respond to the preferences of their donors.
ISSN:0898-2937
DOI:10.3386/w26546