Did you know …

That non-profit organizations have a distinctive economic structure that is generally much more labour-intensive than that of for-profit corporations – as reflected in the fact that they spend more than twice as much on labour costs as for-profit corporations.

Data from four countries (Belgium, Czech Republic, France, the US) shows that, on average, labour costs account for 66 per cent of non-profit expenditures compared to 27 per cent for non-financial for-profit corporations, and this does not even include the striking 44 per cent of the non-profit workforce that is made up of volunteers.

Labour costs as a share of expenditures of non-profit and non-financial for-profit organizations in four countries*

Non-profits: 66%
For-profits: 27%

* Belgium, Czech Republic, France, US. Does not include volunteer labour. 

Source
Salamon et al (2007) Measuring Civil Society and Volunteering: Initial Findings from Implementation of the UN Handbook on Nonprofit Institutions Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies.

For more information
Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies UN Nonprofit Handbook Project (http://www.jhu.edu/ccss/unhandbook)