Community Benefit Resources

Understanding What Counts and Does Not Count as Community Benefit

The guiding principle in determining a community benefit is that the activity or program responds to and identified community health need and is not provided primarily for organizational benefit. Community benefit is a well-defined set of activities articulated by the Internal Revenue Service in its instructions to its Form 990 Schedule H.

Community Benefit Categories Quick Reference Guide 

What Counts

A program or activity that responds to a demonstrated health-related community need and seeks to acheive at least one community benefit objective:
  1. Improve access to health services
  2. Enhance public health
  3. Advance knowledge through education or research
  4. Relieve or reduce a health burden of government or other tax-exempt organization

What Does NOT Count

  1. Benefits the organization more thna the community,
  2. Provided primarily for marketing purposes,
  3. Provided by another entity or individual,
  4. Restricted to employees or medical staff,
  5. Represents a normal "cost of doing business" or the current standard of care.

To learn more:

Resources

The following resources address reporting questions that have been raised around specific issues:

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