nonprofit

American  

[non-prof-it] / nɒnˈprɒf ɪt /

adjective

1. not established for the purpose of making a profit; not entered into for money.

   a nonprofit institution.

---

noun

• nonprofits
  plural

1. a nonprofit organization, institution, corporation, or other entity.

nonprofit British  

/ nɒnˈprɒfɪt /

adjective

1. another word for non-profit-making

---

noun

1. an organization that is not intended to make a profit

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• nonprofits
  plural

Etymology

Origin of nonprofit

First recorded in 1900–05; non- + profit

Compare meaning

How does nonprofit compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• nonprofit vs. not-for-profit
• for-profit vs. nonprofit

Explanation

A business or organization is nonprofit if its main purpose isn't making money for its owners. Nonprofit companies usually raise money for charities. You can use the word nonprofit as an adjective or a noun — a nonprofit is an organization that benefits some public good, rather than raising revenue for stockholders or owners. There are educational nonprofits, religious nonprofits, public health nonprofits, and many others. The word's been around since the 1920s, combining non, or "not," with profit, from the Latin root profectus, "advance, increase, success, or progress."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

nonprofit nonprofits

Started in 2019 by Historic Athens, a nonprofit organization, the Historic Athens Porchfest began in part to bring public awareness around historic preservation and the history of the city’s historic neighborhoods.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

The nonprofit recorded about $25,000 in revenue initially, and by 2022 it brought in about $159,559.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

In early 2020, the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit good government group, noticed something strange in the public filings for the Collins super PAC.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

In 2013 the twin brothers Ali and Hadi Partovi founded a nonprofit called Code.org.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

In February 1989, Eva Ansley and I opened our new nonprofit law center in Tuscaloosa, dedicated to providing free, quality legal services to condemned men and women on death row in Alabama.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Right now, that’s out of reach for Mortensen and her partner, who both work at nonprofits.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

Burchett added that the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority was “ripe for corruption and financial mismanagement,” and raised concerns about contracts that have been doled out to nonprofits in Los Angeles and the surrounding areas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

The accelerator will further create an open-source data set tracking housing policies and launch a competition to award $5 million to companies or nonprofits developing technology to simplify building homes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Some private nonprofits and public institutions already report donor names to the Internal Revenue Service for gifts of at least $5,000, but the IRS is barred from disclosing that information to the public.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026

We both served on the boards of several nonprofits, and as much as he’d been stung by his defeat in the congressional primary, Barack still had ideas about trying for a higher office.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Related Words

• unsuccessful
• worthless