Glossary
Certain key concepts are used frequently in the data analyses and interpretations
contained in this report. In this section, we describe some of the more complex
of these concepts. This is followed by a description of the major independent
or explanatory variables and the major dependent variables examined this
report.
Major concepts
International Classification of Nonprofit Organizations
Average hours volunteered annually
Charitable gaming
Core funding
Corporate sponsorship
Earned income from non-governmental sources
Fundraising revenues
Gifts and donations
Goods and services
Government funding
Grants and contributions
Individual donations
In-kind support
Investment income
Paid employment, full- and part-time employment
Permanent versus temporary employment
Payments
Registered charity
Revenues—financial/monetary
Target population
Volunteers, volunteer activity and paid
employment equivalence
The mean number of hours of volunteer work contributed to a charitable and/or
nonprofit organization per volunteer during one year.
Events such as bingo, raffles, pull-tickets and casinos held by organizations
for fundraising purposes.
Monies necessary to maintain essential organizational capacities such as
long-term programs, staffing positions (salary and benefits), and administrative
expenses.
Financial or material contributions given to nonprofit and voluntary organizations
by corporate entities in the private sector.
Revenue from sources such as charitable gaming, membership fees or dues,
fees for goods and services and earnings from endowments or investments,
including interest income. Excludes government revenue sources.
Revenues received from fundraising organizations, such as the United Way
or Federated Health, or from private, family or community foundations.
Revenues from individual donors or organizations. They are bestowed or conferred
by an individual or group.
Merchandise bought for resale and items bought for manufacturing goods.
Payments for goods and services, and grants and contributions from all levels
of government.
Monies received in support of the charity or one of its programs from various
governments. This does not include payments under contracts or purchase of
service agreements for goods or services the charity provided.
Money given directly by an individual (including planned giving) to one
or more nonprofit and voluntary organizations. See also Gifts
and donations.
Donations of goods or materials and/or donations of business or professional
services to one or more nonprofit or voluntary organizations.
Interest accrued on bank accounts, mortgages, bonds, loans and endowments.
Paid employment refers to staffed employee positions for those receiving
a T4 slip for income tax purposes. Full-time paid employees are those who
usually work 30 or more hours a week; part-time employees usually work fewer
than 30 hours a week.
Permanent employment is defined as having no set termination date; temporary
employment has a set termination date, but that date can be extended.
Amounts payable for goods and services rendered. Excludes grants.
An organization that has obtained registered charitable status from the
Government of Canada. Four kinds of activities are considered to be potentially
charitable: the relief of poverty, the advancement of religion, the advancement
of education, and other purposes of a charitable nature beneficial to the
community as a whole. The last category is broad and can include, for example,
providing health and social services, protecting the environment, and preventing
cruelty to animals. If an organization's activities fall within these categories,
and it does not offer material benefits to its members, Canada Revenue Agency
may consider it eligible to be a registered charity.1
The returns, yield or profit of any lands, property or other source of income.
Includes all registered charities and incorporated nonprofit and voluntary
organizations in Canada. Organizations with another legal status have also
been captured to varying degrees by the survey, but in a less systematic
way.
People who perform a service without pay, through a group or organization.
For the purposes of the National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations,
volunteers include volunteer board members unless otherwise specified. Paid
employment equivalents are based on a 40-hour work week over 48 weeks of
the year.
Respondents were asked to provide information on the primary activity of
their organization. To classify these organizations, the International Classification
of Nonprofit Organizations (ICNPO)2 was
used. Although they are classified according to their primary area of activity,
some organizations operate in multiple areas. An advantage of the ICNPO system
is that it is widely used by other countries, allowing for international
comparisons. It has also been devised specifically to reflect the range and
nature of activities typically undertaken in the nonprofit and voluntary
sector. The ICNPO system,
developed by the Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project and modified
for use in Canada , is divided into 15 major activity groupings, each with
subcategories:
Group 1: Arts and culture
Group 2: Sports and recreation
Group 3: Education and research
Group 4: Universities and colleges
Group 5: Health
Group 6: Hospitals
Group 7: Social services
Group 8: Environment
Group 9: Development and housing
Group 10: Law, advocacy and politics
Group 11: Grant-making, fundraising and voluntarism
promotion
Group 12: International
Group 13: Religion
Group 14: Business and professional associations
and unions
Group 15: Not elsewhere classified
Group 1: Arts and culture 
Media and communications. Production and dissemination of information
and communications. Includes radio and TV stations; publishing of books,
journals, newspapers and newsletters; film production; and libraries.
Visual arts, architecture, ceramic art. Production, dissemination
and display of visual art and architecture. Includes sculpture, photographic
societies, painting, drawing, design centres and architectural associations.
Performing arts. Performing arts centres, companies and associations.
Includes theatre, dance, ballet and opera companies; orchestras; and choral
and music ensembles.
Historical, literary and humanistic societies. Promotion and appreciation
of the humanities, preservation of historical and cultural artefacts, and
commemoration of historical events. Includes historical societies, poetry
and literary societies, language associations, reading promotion societies,
war memorials; and commemorative funds and associations.
Museums. General and specialized museums covering art, history,
sciences, technology and culture.
Zoos and aquariums. Includes zoos and aquariums.
Group 2: Sports and recreation
Sports. Amateur sport, training, physical fitness and sport competition
services and events. Includes fitness and wellness centres.
Recreation and social clubs. Recreational facilities and services
to individuals and communities. Includes playground associations, country
clubs, men's and women's clubs, touring clubs and leisure clubs.
Service clubs. Membership organizations providing services to members
and local communities, such as Lions, Zonta International, Rotary and Kiwanis.
Group 3: Education and research
Vocational/technical schools. Technical and vocational training specifically
geared toward gaining employment. Includes trade schools, paralegal training
and secretarial schools.
Adult/continuing education. Education and training in addition to
the formal education system. Includes schools of continuing studies, correspondence
schools, night schools, and sponsored literacy and reading programs.
Medical research. Research in the medical field. Includes research
on specific diseases, disorders or medical disciplines.
Science and technology. Research in the physical and life sciences
as well as engineering and technology.
Social sciences, policy studies. Research and analysis in the social
sciences and policy areas.
Group 4: Universities and colleges
Higher education. Higher learning, providing academic degrees. Includes
universities, business management schools, law schools and medical schools.
Mental health treatment. Outpatient treatment for mentally ill patients.
Includes community mental health centres and halfway homes.
Crisis intervention. Outpatient services and counsel in acute mental
health situations. Includes suicide prevention and support to victims of
assault and abuse.
Public health and wellness education. Public health promotion and
health education. Includes sanitation screening for potential health hazards,
first aid training and services, and family planning services.
Health treatment, primarily outpatient. Mainly outpatient health
services, e.g., health clinics and vaccination
centres.
Rehabilitative medical services. Outpatient therapeutic care. Includes
nature cure centres, yoga clinics and physical therapy centres.
Emergency medical services. Services to persons in need of immediate
care. Includes ambulatory services and paramedical emergency care, shock/trauma
programs, lifeline programs and ambulance services.
Hospitals. Primarily inpatient medical care and treatment.
Rehabilitation. Inpatient health care and rehabilitative therapy
to individuals who suffer from physical impairments due to injury, genetic
defect or disease and who require extensive physiotherapy or similar forms
of care.
Nursing homes. Inpatient convalescent care, residential care and
primary health care services. Includes homes for the frail elderly and nursing
homes for the severely handicapped.
Psychiatric Hospitals. Inpatient care and treatment for the mentally
ill.
Child welfare, child services, and day-care. Services to children,
adoption services, child development centres and foster care. Includes infant-care
centres and nurseries.
Youth services and youth welfare. Delinquency prevention services,
teen pregnancy prevention, dropout prevention, youth centres and clubs, and
job programs for youth. Includes YMCA, YWCA, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and
Big Brothers/Sisters.
Family services. Includes family life education, parent education,
single-parent agencies and services, and family violence shelters and services.
Services for the handicapped. Includes homes, other than nursing
homes, transport facilities, recreation, and other specialized services.
Services for the elderly. Geriatric care, including in-home services,
homemaker services, transport facilities, recreation, meal programs and other
services geared towards senior citizens, but excluding residential nursing
homes.
Self-help and other personal social services. Programs and services
for self-help and personal development. Includes support groups, personal
counselling and credit counselling / money management services.
Disaster/emergency prevention and control. Preventing, predicting,
controlling and alleviating the effects of disasters, educating or otherwise
preparing people to cope with the effects of disasters, or providing relief
to disaster victims. Includes volunteer fire departments and lifeboat services.
Temporary shelters. Providing temporary shelter for the homeless.
Includes traveller's aid and temporary housing.
Refugee assistance. Providing food, clothing, shelter and services
to refugees and immigrants.
Income support and maintenance. Providing cash assistance and other
forms of direct services to persons unable to maintain a livelihood.
Material assistance. Providing food, clothing, transport and other
forms of assistance. Includes food banks and clothing distribution centres.
Pollution abatement and control. Promoting clean air, clean water,
reduction and prevention of noise pollution, radiation control, treatment
of hazardous wastes and toxic substances, solid waste management and recycling
programs.
Natural resources conservation and protection. Conservation and preservation
of natural resources, including land, water, energy and plant resources for
the general use and enjoyment of the public.
Environmental beautification and open spaces. Botanical gardens,
arboreta, horticultural programs and landscape services. Organizations promoting
anti-litter campaigns; programs to preserve parks, green spaces and open
spaces in urban or rural areas; and city and highway beautification programs.
Animal protection and welfare. Animal protection and welfare services.
Includes animal shelters and humane societies.
Wildlife preservation and protection. Wildlife preservation and protection.
Includes sanctuaries and refuges.
Veterinary services. Animal hospitals and services providing care
to farm and household animals and pets.
Group 9: Development and housing
Community and neighbourhood organizations. Improving the quality
of life within communities or neighbourhoods, e.g.,
squatters' associations, local development organizations, and poor people's
co-operatives.
Economic development. Programs and services to improve economic infrastructure
and capacity. Includes building of infrastructure, such as roads; and financial
services, such as credit and savings associations, entrepreneurial programs,
technical and managerial consulting, and rural development assistance.
Social development. Improving the institutional infrastructure and
capacity to alleviate social problems and to improve general public well-being.
Housing associations. Development, construction, management, leasing,
financing and rehabilitation of housing.
Housing assistance. Housing search, legal services and related assistance.
Job training programs. Providing and supporting apprenticeship programs,
internships, on-the-job training and other training programs.
Vocational counselling and guidance. Vocational training and guidance,
career counselling, testing and related services.
Vocational rehabilitation and sheltered workshops. Promoting self-sufficiency
and income generation through job training and employment.
Group 10: Law, advocacy and politics
Advocacy organizations. Protecting the rights and promoting the interests
of specific groups, e.g., the physically
handicapped, the elderly, children and women.
Civil rights associations. Protecting or preserving individual civil
liberties and human rights.
Ethnic associations. Promoting the interests of, or providing services
to, those of a specific ethnic heritage.
Civic associations. Programs and services to encourage and spread
civic-mindedness.
Legal services. Legal services, advice and assistance in dispute
resolution and court-related matters, crime prevention and public policy,
as well as crime prevention to promote safety and precautionary measures
among citizens.
Rehabilitation of offenders. Programs and services to reintegrate
offenders. Includes halfway houses, probation and parole programs, and prison
alternatives.
Victim support. Services, counsel and advice to victims of crime.
Consumer protection associations. Protection of consumer rights and
improving product control and quality.
Political parties and organizations. Activities and services to support
the placing of particular candidates into political office. Includes dissemination
of information, public relations and political fundraising.
Group 11: Grant-making, fundraising and voluntarism
promotion
Grant-making foundations. Private foundations, including corporate
foundations, community foundations and independent public-law foundations.
Voluntarism promotion and support. Recruiting, training, and placing
volunteers and promoting volunteering.
Fundraising organizations. Federated, collective fundraising organizations,
including lotteries.
Exchange/friendship/cultural programs. Programs and services to encourage
mutual respect and friendship abroad.
Development assistance associations. Programs and projects to promote
social and economic development abroad.
International disaster and relief organizations. Collecting, channelling,
and providing aid to other countries during times of disaster or emergency.
International human rights and peace organizations. Promoting and
monitoring human rights and peace abroad.
Congregations. Churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, shrines, monasteries,
seminaries and similar organizations promoting religious beliefs and administering
religious services and rituals.
Associations of congregations. Associations and auxiliaries of religious
congregations and organizations supporting and promoting religious beliefs,
services and rituals.
Group 14: Business and professional associations
and unions
Business associations. Promoting, regulating, and safeguarding the
interests of special branches of business, e.g.,
manufacturers, farmers and bankers.
Professional associations. Promoting, regulating and protecting professional
interests, e.g., bar associations and medical
associations.
Labour unions. Promoting, protecting, and regulating the rights and
interests of employees.
Group 15: Not elsewhere classified
Notes
1. Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, 2001, Registering
a Charity for Income Tax Purposes.
2. The classification is based on L.M. Salamon and H.K.
Anheier, 1997, Defining the Nonprofit Sector: A Cross-national Analysis, Manchester, N.Y.,
Manchester University Press.
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