The nonprofit 100

The top Massachusetts-based nonprofits, ranked by public support.

How the list was assembled

Rank	Name	Location	Public support (millions)	Revenue (millions)	Expenses (millions)	Assets (millions)
1.	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Cambridge	$968	$2,091	$1,348	$5,452
2.	President & Fellows of Harvard College	Cambridge	836	2,862	1,845	17,599
3.	Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund	Boston	573	670	385	1,747
4.	WGBH Educational Foundation	Boston	196	226	173	269
5.	Dana-Farber Cancer Institute	Brookline	144	346	282	481
6.	Trustees of Boston University	Boston	137	1,032	1,006	1,152
7.	Trustees of Tufts College	Somerville	137	454	374	840
8.	Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center	Boston	112	732	777	419
9.	Boston College Trustees	Chestnut Hill	71	509	402	1,160
10.	Wellesley College	Wellesley	62	261	152	1,039
11.	Northeastern University	Boston	62	369	342	949
12.	Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research	Cambridge	54	89	58	482
13.	Smith College	Northampton	54	241	139	1,118
14.	New England Medical Center Hospitals	Boston	53	398	387	497
15.	Pathfinder International	Watertown	50	51	48	56
16.	United Way of Massachusetts Bay	Boston	46	48	48	63
17.	Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston	Boston	44	56	45	228
18.	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	Worcester	41	154	100	397
19.	Mount Holyoke College	S. Hadley	38	117	89	500
20.	Trustees of Phillips Academy	Andover	33	116	60	604
21.	Brandeis University	Waltham	33	237	202	576
22.	City Year	Boston	32	32	23	19
23.	Boston Foundation	Boston	32	95	39	626
24.	Museum of Fine Arts	Boston	31	146	105	507
25.	Boston Symphony Orchestra	Boston	31	88	58	283
26.	Joslin Diabetes Center	Boston	31	63	60	104
27.	Amherst College Trustees	Amherst	30	172	94	908
28.	Williams College	Williamstown	26	175	94	1,102
29.	The Greater Boston Food Bank	Boston	25	34	34	7
30.	Oxfam-America	Boston	23	24	19	23
31.	Massachusetts General Hospital	Boston	21	69	22	569
32.	Marine Biological Laboratory	Falmouth	19	28	24	69
33.	Clark University	Worcester	18	88	58	267
34.	Wheaton College	Norton	17	67	51	192
35.	International Fund for Animal Welfare	Yarmouth Port	15	18	13	16
36.	Schepens Eye Research Institute	Boston	15	21	20	60
37.	Peabody Essex Museum	Salem	15	48	12	155
38.	Springfield Library and Museums Assocation	Springfield	15	18	12	59
39.	The American Ireland Fund	Boston	13	16	17	17
40.	Groton School Corp.	Groton	13	44	21	258
41.	New England Aquarium Corp.	Boston	13	34	24	85
42.	Deerfield Academy	Deerfield	12	71	28	326
43.	College of the Holy Cross Trustees	Worcester	12	136	99	498
44.	Babson College	Wellesley	12	122	106	311
45.	Massachusetts Audubon Society	Lincoln	12	28	15	164
46.	Children �s Medical Center Corp.	Boston	12	52	75	908
47.	Facing History and Ourselves National Foundation	Brookline	10	11	7	10
48.	Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary	South Hamilton	10	21	14	66
49.	Milton Academy	Milton	10	40	35	188
50.	Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts	Springfield	10	12	11	72
51.	Museum of Science	Boston	9	40	26	143
52.	Perkins School for the Blind	Watertown	9	54	41	148
53.	Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution	Falmouth	8	126	88	283
54.	Greater Boston Legal Services	Boston	8	9	9	11
55.	Wheelock College	Boston	8	27	22	64
56.	Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals	Boston	8	38	35	108
57.	Appalachian Mountain Club	Boston	8	18	14	32
58.	Springfield College	Springfield	8	74	71	107
59.	World Society for the Protection of Animals	Boston	8	8	8	5
60.	Belmont Hill School	Belmont	8	18	11	51
61.	Commonwealth Zoological Corp.	Boston	7	9	8	6
62.	Morgan Memorial Goodwill Industries	Boston	7	16	16	24
63.	Noble and Greenough School	Dedham	7	23	13	75
64.	Boston Latin School Association	Boston	7	8	3	19
65.	St. Mark �s School of Southborough	Southborough	7	23	12	115
66.	Earthwatch Expeditions	Maynard	7	8	8	6
67.	Allen-Chase Foundation	Deerfield	7	19	9	69
68.	Worcester Natural History Society	Worcester	7	9	4	32
69.	Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged	Boston	7	64	62	131
70.	Northfield Mount Hermon School	Northfield	7	56	38	136
71.	Middlesex School	Concord	7	23	19	119
72.	Elderhostel	Boston	7	212	207	78
73.	New England Foundation for the Arts	Boston	7	7	4	12
74.	Union of Concerned Scientists	Cambridge	7	7	6	9
75.	AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts	Boston	6	9	10	4
76.	Trustees of Hampshire College	Amherst	6	39	38	59
77.	Scottish Rite Masonic Children �s Learning Centers	Lexington	6	7	4	16
78.	Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum	Boston	6	12	7	85
79.	Young Men �s Christian Association of Greater Boston	Boston	6	31	28	47
80.	United Way of Central Massachusetts	Worcester	6	6	69
81.	Hebrew College	Brookline	6	8	5	16
82.	St. Elizabeth �s Medical Center of Boston	Boston	6	216	223	271
83.	Roxbury Latin School	Boston	6	23	5	120
84.	United Ways of Eastern New England	Boston	6	6	11	13
85.	Concord Academy	Concord	5	15	12	43
86.	Proprietors of the Boston Athenaeum	Boston	5	23	5	97
87.	Students Against Driving Drunk	Marlborough	5	6	5	2
88.	Berkshire School	Sheffield	5	19	14	48
89.	Worcester Art Museum	Worcester	5	13	7	99
90.	Suffolk University	Boston	5	107	98	243
91.	ACCION International	Somerville	5	7	7	15
92.	Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston	Boston	5	7	7	21
93.	Foundation of the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary	Boston	5	11	8	102
94.	Community United Way of Pioneer Valley	Springfield	5	6	5	8
95.	Bentley College	Waltham	5	115	106	285
96.	Fenway Community Health Center	Boston	5	11	11	8
97.	National Multiple Sclerosis Society	Waltham	5	5	5	2
98.	Trustees of Reservations	Beverly	5	14	9	123
99.	Unitarian Universalist Service Committee	Cambridge	5	5	4	11
100.	Haymarket People�s Fund	Boston	5	5	2	10

For this second annual list of the state's largest nonprofit organizations, the Globe relied on databases compiled by the National Center for Charitable Statistics in Washington, D.C., which collects its data from the Form 990 tax returns all nonprofits must file. The accounting firm Grant Thornton in Boston examined the raw data and advised the Globe.

We ranked the nonprofits based on the amount of ``public support'' they reported in their most recent tax returns (in most cases fiscal year 1999). Public support includes private donations and government grants and is the best indication of the level of charitable donations a nonprofit receives.

Many nonprofits report government contracts as government grants, thereby artificially inflating their level of public support. We excluded any nonprofit that did not report at least $300,000 in fund-raising expenses.

Public access to nonprofit financial data is improving slowly. In Massachusetts, the attorney general keeps a copy of every charity's Form 990, as well as state questionnaires every nonprofit must answer annually.

Those records are accessible only in person.

Guidestar, a service produced by Philanthropic Research Inc. of Williamsburg, Va., allows individuals to look up information on particular charities online and download copies of tax returns, at www.guidestar.org. For information on an entire state or sector of the nonprofit world, consult the National Center for Charitable Statistics at nccs.urban.org.