U.S. Nonprofits Spent $28 Billion on R&D Activities in FY 2022

The largest funding source for nonprofit R&D performance in FY 2022 was the federal government, contributing $11.6 billion, or 42%, of the total. Nonprofit organizations' own internal funds were the next largest source at $7.6 billion, or 27%, of the total. For-profit businesses funded $3.6 billion (13%), foundations and other nonprofits contributed $2.2 billion (8%), and individual donors contributed $1.3 billion (5%). The remaining sources contributed less than 6% to total nonprofit R&D performance.

Overall, total FY 2022 R&D expenditures within nonprofit organizations increased 4% over FY 2021 and 5% over FY 2020. The totals for federally funded research, internally funded research, and research funded by individual donors remained stable between FY 2021 and FY 2022. Three funding source categories saw significant increases or decreases in FY 2022. Funding from businesses increased by 20%, from $3.0 billion in FY 2021 to $3.6 billion in FY 2022. The category of all other sources, including state and local governments and universities, increased 34% from $1.2 billion in FY 2021 to $1.7 billion in FY 2022. Funding from foundations and other nonprofits decreased 6% from $2.4 billion in FY 2021 to $2.2 billion in FY 2022.