Top Charities 2024

When natural or man-made disasters are in the news, members of the 2024 Forbes list of America’s Top 100 Charities are likely already racing to provide help. After Hurricane Helene hit in September, 75-year-old Direct Relief, ranked No. 5, sent drugs and health care supplies to hard hit areas. World Central Kitchen, founded in 2010 and the youngest charity on the list at No. 82, served up hot meals and fresh water. A full quarter of the top 100 report at least some disaster relief activities somewhere.

Together, the nation’s top 100 charities received nearly $64 billion in private donations in their most recently reported fiscal year, a 4% annual increase. That bested the 2% increase in all charitable giving among the country’s two million nonprofits, according to the Giving USA Foundation, underscoring the clout of brand names in the not-for-profit sector. Indeed, gifts to the Forbes 100 alone amounted to one-ninth of all charitable giving. The cutoff for this year’s list—No.100—was $194 million in donations, up from $186 million in 2023.

Our list shows the most recently reported fiscal year for each charity. Rankings are based solely on the amount of private contributions received. Government grants, payment for services rendered and investment returns don’t count here, although each organization’s total revenue is noted. Our full list below can be sorted by the category of mission—for example, domestic needs, international needs, health or youth. Each charity’s name links to a separate page providing even more data, including individual financial efficiency ratios and how much pay its highest compensated individual received. A related story more fully describes our methodologies and explains how donors can use this data with other information to help evaluate any charity.