Leaderboards › Fundraising events beyond the mission

Most spent on fundraising events beyond the mission

“The Side Show”

What this counts

Direct expenses of fundraising events beyond the mission, per organization and tax year, highest first.

Exact rule: Organization-years with fundraising events, except where every itemized event is the charity's own program (for example a marathon run by a running club). Events the form doesn't itemize count as fundraising events. Direct expenses = Form 990 Part VIII line 8b (990-EZ line 6c). One return per organization and tax year: the latest, so an amended return replaces the original. Filings from organizations reporting at least $10,000,000 in revenue or $50,000,000 in total assets that year.

Direct expenses are what the events themselves cost (prizes, venue, food, entertainment), not staff time or overhead.

Event types and mission calls come from fixed keyword rules applied to each event's own description and the organization's NTEE code and name (written out in docs/event-classification.md in the project's code). They label the description, not the event, and are not a judgment. Borderline calls are marked unclear.

Coverage: tax years 2008 to 2025, e-filed returns only. 91,754 rows. Refreshed 2026-10-18.

Top row: DUCKS UNLIMITED INC, $52,163,389, tax year 2024 Copy

One row per organization: its top row. Show every organization-year

13,548 rows. Download CSV (first 10,000 rows) · JSON

Dollar figures cover all fundraising events on the return. Event names list only the events itemized on Schedule G Part II (the two largest by gross receipts); the form combines the rest.

Net is the return's own figure (Part VIII line 8c, or Schedule G line 11). Where the return leaves it blank it shows Not reported and the row is left out of the lowest-net ranking. Direct expenses marked derived are gross income minus the reported net, where the return left line 8b blank.

A negative net doesn't always mean the events lost money: gross income (8a) leaves out donations made at the events, which the return reports on line 1c (Donations at events column).

Some organizations report direct expenses equal to event income, so net is exactly $0 (the American Cancer Society reports this way); the rest of the cost is then usually in fundraising expenses.

Share

Link previews use this card. Address: https://furp.org/boards/beyond-spending