What are Supporting Activities?

Supporting activities are those actions taken by a nonprofit organization other than program services. Supporting activities typically include fundraising activities, management and general activities, and membership development activities.

Understanding Supporting Activities

Donors prefer to see a low ratio of supporting activities to program services, which indicates that the bulk of their donations are being used to further the main purpose of the organization. This can lead nonprofit managers to incorrectly classify some supporting activities as program services in the accounting records, in order to falsely give donors the impression that the organization is tightly-run and entirely focused on the provision of program services.