NTEE codes explained

The National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities, or NTEE, is a classification system for tax-exempt organizations. It was developed by the National Center for Charitable Statistics, now part of the Urban Institute, and the IRS assigns NTEE codes to organizations in its Business Master File. A code answers a narrow question: what kind of work does the organization mainly do? It does not say how well the organization does it.

How a code is built

An NTEE code starts with one letter and continues with digits and, sometimes, a trailing letter:

• The first letter is the major group. There are 26 of them, A through Z, such as A for arts and culture, B for education, E for health care and P for human services.
• The first two characters after the group letter narrow the field. In P20, the group is human services and 20 is the general category for human service organizations. In B25, the group is education and 25 marks secondary or high schools.
• A further digit can add a specialty, and some codes in the IRS file carry a trailing letter, as in P20Z, which the file uses for further sub-classification.

The same organization can do work in several areas. The IRS lists one code, based on the organization's application and its later filings, so the code is a best single summary and not a complete description.

The 26 major groups

The groups follow the fields of activity. A: Arts, Culture and Humanities. B: Education. C: Environment. D: Animal-Related. E: Health Care. F: Mental Health and Crisis Intervention. G: Voluntary Health Associations and Medical Disciplines. H: Medical Research. I: Crime and Legal-Related. J: Employment. K: Food, Agriculture and Nutrition. L: Housing and Shelter. M: Public Safety, Disaster Preparedness and Relief. N: Recreation and Sports. O: Youth Development. P: Human Services. Q: International, Foreign Affairs and National Security. R: Civil Rights, Social Action and Advocacy. S: Community Improvement and Capacity Building. T: Philanthropy, Voluntarism and Grantmaking Foundations. U: Science and Technology. V: Social Science. W: Public and Societal Benefit. X: Religion-Related. Y: Mutual and Membership Benefit. Z: Unknown or unclassified.

The NTEE code page lists every group with links to the organizations published here. The largest groups on this site at the moment areHealth Care (1,259), Education (468), Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Grantmaking Foundations (229), Human Services (78), and Mutual & Membership Benefit (49).

Why the code matters for comparisons

Financial ratios mean little across different kinds of organizations. A hospital carries large program service revenue and large fixed assets. A small advocacy group depends on contributions and holds little property. A food bank reports donated goods. Comparing a hospital with a food bank on revenue or reserves says more about the difference in activity than about either organization.

For that reason the organization pages here compare an organization only with others in the same NTEE major group and the same state. Where the state has fewer than 20 comparable organizations, the comparison uses the same group nationwide, and the page states that it does. Among the2,964 organizations published so far, the code is the first field used to pick the "similar organizations" list at the bottom of each page.

Limits of the code

• Missing codes. Many organizations have no NTEE code in the IRS file, especially older or smaller ones. Those organizations show no comparison block.
• Broad groups. Group P covers everything from a homeless shelter to a youth mentoring program to a large multi-service agency. Size still matters even inside one group.
• Changing classifications. The IRS can update a code when it reviews a filing. The code on this site is the one in the most recent Business Master File we downloaded.
• Religious organizations. Group X covers religion-related organizations, but many congregations are not required to file returns and are absent from the financial data.

Using codes in a search

To find organizations of one kind, start with a major group page, then narrow by state. The URL pattern is /ntee/ followed by the group, and the state comes next. From an organization page, the program area row in the IRS status block links to both the national group and the state list. For grantmaking, group T is the natural starting point, although private foundations of every kind appear under other codes too. The largest grantmakers list ranks private foundations by grants paid regardless of their code.

NTEE codes are assigned by the IRS and the Urban Institute's National Center for Charitable Statistics. This site reproduces the codes as listed in the IRS Business Master File and does not assign or change them.