Nonprofit organization (NPO) versus PUBLIC CHARITY versus Community Benefit organization (CBO)?
Updated: Mar 17

Until the mid-18th century, charity was mainly distributed through religious structures (such as the English Poor Laws of 1601), almshouses and bequests from the rich. During the 19th century, a profusion of charitable organizations emerged to alleviate the awful conditions of the working class in the slums.
The nonprofit sector did not come about by accident; it was molded by the actions of people who wanted to preserve and develop the role of the charitable sector in public life.In 1917, the US Income Tax Law was passed, which allowed taxpayers to deduct charitable contributions from up to 15 percent of their income tax payments. This part of the law was instituted to help fund the country’s participation in World War I, and was passed by Congress to encourage private philanthropy. Starting in 1936, corporations could also claim deductions for their charitable contributions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charitable_organization
Later in the 1950s, the term "nonprofit" was used frequently in lieu of "public charity". But a nonprofit is one that is traditionally dedicated to furthering a particular social cause or advocating for a shared point of view. In economic terms, it is an organization using its surplus of the revenues to further achieve its ultimate objective. Being public extensions of a nation's revenue department, nonprofits are tax-exempt or charitable, meaning they do not pay income tax on the money that they receive for their organization. They can operate in religious, scientific, research, or educational settings. A nonprofit organization (NPO) versus a for-profit entity illustrates the term nonprofit is simply the organization's tax status.
The term public charity often evokes images of a tin cup held out for money or as in the 1800s with beggars asking for "alms".
