Posts Tagged: IRS public support test

Public Charities and the IRS Public Support Tests: How the IRS Measures Public Support

February 10, 2026 Posted by Casey Summar in IRS, Public Charities
Nonprofit board members and staff engaged in a collaborative discussion about public charity governance and IRS public support requirements.

After identifying whether an organization is a “Donor-Supported” entity (Section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi)) or a “Related Revenue” entity (Section 509(a)(2)), which determines which public support rules apply to an organization, the next critical question is how public support is measured. Many nonprofit leaders are surprised to learn that public support is not evaluated on a year-by-year basis, …

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Public Charities and the IRS Public Support Tests: Understanding the Two Types of Public Charities

January 21, 2026 Posted by Casey Summar in IRS, Public Charities
Professional woman reviewing documents at a desk with a laptop, representing nonprofit leaders managing public charity compliance and IRS public support requirements.

In the prior post in this series, we explored why public support matters and how failure to satisfy the IRS public support rules can result in unintended reclassification as a private foundation. Before an organization can assess whether it is meeting the applicable public support test, however, it must first understand which public support rules …

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