Independent Sector

What Independent Sector does

Independent Sector, founded in 1980 by statesman John W. Gardner, is the only national membership organization exclusively dedicated to connecting, strengthening, and advocating for the entire U.S. nonprofit and philanthropic sector. Headquartered at 1602 L Street NW, Washington, DC and governed by a Board of Directors led by President and CEO Dr. Akilah Watkins, the organization serves a horizontal membership base spanning public charities and operating foundations (dues $150–$17,500 by payroll), private and community foundations (dues $150–$17,500 by grantmaking), corporate philanthropy programs, academic centers, business associates (for-profit professional services firms), global partners, and individual associates — collectively hundreds of member organizations ranging from 2-staff grassroots groups to 35,000-staff national institutions.

The core product portfolio is a mix of research publications, interactive data dashboards, community initiatives, and annual convenings rather than a unified technology product. Proprietary research assets include the Trust in Civil Society survey (annual, 3,000+ adults, partnered with Edelman Data & Intelligence), the Value of Volunteer Time methodology (BLS-derived, partnered with the Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland), the ALICE Nonprofit Workforce Dashboard (partnered with United for ALICE), the landmark Nonprofit Advocacy & Civic Engagement Research, the Health of the U.S. Nonprofit Sector annual report, the 33 Principles for Good Governance framework, and the Nonprofit State Profiles Dashboard (IRS, BLS, Census, AmeriCorps data). Community initiatives include the Strategic Volunteer Engagement Program (inherited permanently in 2024), Voices in Action voter-engagement coalition (launched June 2026 with Nonprofit VOTE, League of Women Voters, and Alliance for Justice), and the Nonprofit Coalition Connection. Annual convenings are the National Summit (ISNS) and the Symposium on Public Policy for Nonprofits (co-hosted with ARNOVA and Nonprofit Policy Forum).

The revenue model is a multi-stream membership association model: tiered annual dues (subscription/recurring) constitute the core, supplemented by tax-deductible donations (the entity is a 501(c)(3)), corporate sponsorships anchored to ISNS, and an affinity program where business partners pay for access and visibility to the IS community. Direct membership acquisition runs through intake forms and discovery calls with the Director of Membership, supplemented by a community-led GTM that relies on convenings, webinars, town halls, monthly policy updates, and the weekly newsletter "The Digest." No app, API, SDK, or commercial software product exists; marketing is content- and event-led through independentsector.org, organic social, podcasts, and PR/media relations, with distribution via direct membership sales, national events, a self-serve digital platform, and corporate/affinity partnerships.

Name

Independent Sector

Legal name

Independent Sector

Website

https://independentsector.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Independent Sector is a national 501(c)(3) membership organization founded in 1980 that connects, strengthens, and advocates for the U.S. nonprofit and philanthropic sector through proprietary research, policy analysis, interactive data dashboards, advocacy tools, and annual convenings including the National Summit.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit Sector Advocacy and Membership Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (813920), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139), Civic and Social Organizations (813410)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

Keywords

• Nonprofit membership organization
• Policy advocacy services
• Nonprofit sector research
• Volunteer engagement programs
• Sector convenings

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership dues charged to nonprofits, foundations, corporate philanthropy programs, academic centers, and individual associates. Dues are structured based on organizational size metrics (payroll for public charities, grantmaking budget for foundations, operating budget for global partners, staff count for business associates). Ranges from $150 for smallest organizations to $17,500 for largest.
2. Donations and Contributions: Tax-deductible donations from individuals and organizations supporting the charitable sector. Independent Sector is a 501(c)(3) organization and all gifts are tax deductible.
3. Sponsorships: Corporate sponsorships for the National Summit and other events. Sponsors receive visibility and access to IS member organizations. Sponsorship opportunities are available for the annual National Summit.
4. Affinity Program: Affinity program offering where business partners pay for visibility and access to the IS community of social good organizations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Independent Sector is the only national membership organization in the United States that brings together nonprofits, foundations, and corporate philanthropy programs. It sells annual membership subscriptions tiered by organizational size, bundles them with proprietary research, policy analysis, advocacy tools, and member-only convenings, and convenes the sector through the annual National Summit, Symposium on Public Policy for Nonprofits, and listening tours across the country.

Product overview

Independent Sector is a national membership organization that connects, strengthens, and advocates for nonprofits and philanthropies. Rather than offering a unified technology product, the organization provides a portfolio of research tools, interactive dashboards, and community initiatives including the Nonprofit Sector State Profiles Dashboard, ALICE Nonprofit Workforce Dashboard, Trust in Civil Society Research, Value of Volunteer Time datasets, and the Nonprofit Coalition Connection tool. Additional offerings include the Voices in Action voter engagement initiative, Nonprofit Advocacy Research, the Health of the U.S. Nonprofit Sector annual report, Principles for Good Governance framework, Independent Sector's National Summit, the annual Symposium on Public Policy for Nonprofits, and the Strategic Volunteer Engagement Program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Voices in Action: A joint initiative with Nonprofit VOTE, League of Women Voters, and Alliance for Justice's Bolder Advocacy program to help nonprofits engage their communities in the democratic process
• National Summit
• Symposium on Public Policy for Nonprofits

Products and services

• National Membership Program Annual tiered membership subscriptions that give nonprofits, foundations, corporate philanthropy programs, academic centers, and individual associates access to policy analysis, members-only webinars, monthly policy updates, CEO town halls, quarterly masterclasses, the Nonprofit Coalition Connection, and members-only legal guidance on anti-discrimination laws and executive orders.
• Independent Sector National Summit (ISNS) Annual national summit bringing together nonprofit, philanthropic, and corporate giving professionals for expert-led sessions on leadership, policy, and coalition building, with member discounts and corporate sponsorship opportunities.
• Symposium on Public Policy for Nonprofits Annual symposium co-hosted with ARNOVA and Nonprofit Policy Forum that brings together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to explore key public policy questions affecting nonprofits and philanthropy.
• ALICE Nonprofit Workforce Dashboard Innovative interactive dashboard providing thousands of data points on nonprofit workers and household financial status at the state level, including poverty level, ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) threshold, and Above ALICE threshold categories.
• Nonprofit Sector State Profiles Dashboard Interactive dashboard with data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia on nonprofit organizations, paid workforce, volunteer workforce, and economic impact metrics sourced from IRS, BLS, Census Bureau, and AmeriCorps data.
• Nonprofit Coalition Connection Nonpartisan interactive database and resource designed to support advocacy engagement for charitable nonprofits, foundations, and philanthropy-serving organizations by connecting them with collaborative working groups.
• Voices in Action Joint initiative equipping nonprofits with tools, confidence, and clarity for nonpartisan voter engagement, launched with Nonprofit VOTE (nonpartisan voter engagement resources), League of Women Voters (voting rights and representation), and Alliance for Justice's Bolder Advocacy program (advocacy legal guidance).
• Strategic Volunteer Engagement (SVE) Program Program aimed at transforming the future of volunteerism by supporting nonprofits to effectively engage volunteer networks, funded by Lodestar Foundation and The Leighty Foundation.
• Affinity Program for Business Partners Program that connects business partners (products and services serving nonprofits) with the Independent Sector community of social good organizations in exchange for fees for visibility and access.

Named customers2 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Voices in Action Partners (Nonprofit VOTE, League of Women Voters, Alliance for Justice/Bolder Advocacy)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVoices in Action is a joint initiative launched in June 2026 to help nonprofits engage their communities in the democratic process. Independent Sector partners with Nonprofit VOTE (nonpartisan voter engagement resources), League of Women Voters (voting rights and representation), and Alliance for Justice's Bolder Advocacy program (advocacy legal guidance) to equip nonprofits with tools, confidence, and clarity for nonpartisan voter engagement ahead of 2026 midterm elections.
• Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerARNOVA co-hosts the annual Symposium on Public Policy for Nonprofits with Independent Sector and Nonprofit Policy Forum. ARNOVA is a diverse community of scholars, educators, and practice leaders working to strengthen the field of charity, nonprofit, and philanthropic research.
• Nonprofit Policy ForumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNonprofit Policy Forum, an open-access academic journal published by De Gruyter, co-hosts the annual Symposium on Public Policy for Nonprofits. The journal publishes original research and analysis on public policy issues critical to nonprofit organizations.
• Do Good Institute at the University of MarylandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to calculate the annual Value of Volunteer Time, producing national and state-by-state estimates of the dollar value of volunteer service. The Do Good Institute team developed the updated methodology for calculating these estimates.
• United for ALICEcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint research partnership to understand and improve the financial health of nonprofit workers. Produced landmark 'ALICE in the Nonprofit Workforce' report finding that 22% of nonprofit employees experienced financial hardship. Includes interactive ALICE Nonprofit Workforce Dashboard with state-level data.
• Edelman Data & IntelligencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for annual Trust in Civil Society survey, the largest nationally representative survey of its kind (3,000+ adults). Edelman Data & Intelligence provides survey methodology expertise and data collection for annual public trust research in nonprofit and philanthropic organizations.
• BoardSourceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFeatured collaboration on 'Rethinking Governance' event bringing together nonprofit, corporate social responsibility, and technology leaders to discuss approaches for increasing board effectiveness and impact.
• Nonprofit Infrastructure Coalition (NIC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition of diverse sector leaders advocating for federal investments to rebuild civic infrastructure in the wake of COVID-19, uneven economic times, and racial injustice. Independent Sector serves as a key partner in NIC's advocacy efforts.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• National Council of Nonprofits: The closest direct peer—a national network of nonprofit and foundation members that advocates on federal/state policy and provides member services. Both organizations pursue a horizontal, sector-wide membership model targeting the same 501(c)(3) addressable market.
• Council on Foundations: A national membership organization serving grantmaking institutions and philanthropy-serving entities. While focused on foundations rather than operating nonprofits, it competes for the same foundations/corporate philanthropy members that Independent Sector recruits.

Broad incumbents

• Candid: Formed from the merger of GuideStar and the Foundation Center, Candid is the dominant nonprofit data/information provider offering profiles, financial metrics, and research. It overlaps with Independent Sector's research and transparency focus and commands significant sector mindshare.
• BBB Wise Giving Alliance: A standards-setting body that evaluates charitable organizations against accountability benchmarks. Adjacent to Independent Sector's transparency and good-governance work; competes for attention from donors and foundations concerned with accountability.
• InterAction: The largest U.S. alliance of international NGOs, providing policy advocacy and member services. Comparable organizational structure and revenue model (dues + grants), but operating in international development rather than domestic nonprofit sector.

Emerging players

• BoardSource: A national nonprofit membership organization focused on nonprofit governance. It overlaps with Independent Sector's Principles for Good Governance and 'Rethinking Governance' programming, competing on niche depth against IS's horizontal coverage.
• NTEN (Nonprofit Technology Enterprise Network): A membership community serving nonprofit professionals with technology, digital, and data resources. Targets a key subset of IS's membership (digital/program staff) and competes for the same professional-development and convening dollars.
• Philanthropy Roundtable: A membership organization for individual donors, private foundations, and family foundations, focused on philanthropy strategy and policy. Competes for foundation membership dues and convening mindshare with Independent Sector.
• United Philanthropy Forum: A national membership network of philanthropic-serving organizations and regional/place-based funder associations. Competes for the same foundation and funder-affiliated members and convening agenda as Independent Sector.

Regional players

• Foundation for the Carolinas: One of the largest community foundations in the U.S., serving donors and nonprofits regionally. While regionally focused, it provides sector convening, research, and capacity-building that overlaps with the support Independent Sector offers members.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/indsector
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC29bwuEWjIZWypSsH7ns8jA
• Facebookfacebook.com/IndependentSector
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/26953
• Instagraminstagram.com/independentsector

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Independent Sector