The $7.7 Billion Build-Out: What Five Years of Club Balance Sheets Show

Between fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2024, the member-owned private clubs that file a public Form 990 expanded their balance sheets at a pace that should inform every capital plan now in front of a board. The dataset “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service (page updated September 2026) and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows that the 1,447 clubs that reported total assets, total liabilities and net assets in both years, and cleared $1 million in revenue in both, added $7.66 billion in total assets, growing from $18.63 billion to $26.29 billion, a 41.1 percent increase in five years.

The more useful question for a board is not how much the balance sheet grew but which side of it did the growing. The answer in the filings is clear. The dataset “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows that net assets (total assets minus total liabilities, per Part I, line 22 of the Form 990), roughly the members’ equity in their club, rose $5.30 billion. The dataset “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows that total liabilities rose $2.37 billion, that roughly 69 cents of every new dollar of assets sits on the equity side of the ledger, and that the median club ended the period with a lower liabilities-to-assets ratio than it started with.

Panel figures in this article are Private Club Marketing calculations from IRS Form 990 data (see How We Did This). Club-level figures come directly from each club’s own return; links are in Sources.

A Broad Build-Out, Not a Few Outliers

The growth was not concentrated in a handful of large clubs. The dataset “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows that of the 1,447 clubs in the constant panel, 1,289, or 89 percent, ended fiscal 2024 with more total assets than they reported for fiscal 2019, that the median club’s assets grew 37.3 percent, that 555 clubs, about 38 percent of the panel, grew their asset base by half or more, and that 210 clubs, about one in seven, at least doubled it.

The typical club in this panel is not large. The dataset “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows that median total assets rose from $7.69 million in fiscal 2019 to $11.62 million in fiscal 2024, and that at the top of the range the number of panel clubs reporting $100 million or more in total assets went from 8 to 17, more than doubling in five years.

Two caveats belong up front. First, the form “Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax,” published by the Internal Revenue Service, reports land, buildings and equipment at cost or other basis less accumulated depreciation (Part X, lines 10a–10c), not at market value, so growth in that line reflects money put into the club, not appreciation of the land under it. Second, total assets also include cash and investments, which Part X reports on separate lines. The total-asset figures we used cannot separate a new building from a larger reserve fund, which is why this article says nothing about what any club built.

Which Side of the Balance Sheet Grew

The dataset “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows that across the panel, net assets grew from $11.89 billion to $17.18 billion, up 44.5 percent, that total liabilities grew from $6.74 billion to $9.11 billion, up 35.1 percent, and that, because equity grew faster than obligations, the panel’s aggregate liabilities-to-assets ratio slipped from 36.2 percent to 34.6 percent.

The median tells the same story more sharply. The dataset “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows that the median club’s liabilities-to-assets ratio fell from 39.9 percent to 36.8 percent, and that 495 clubs, about a third of the panel, reported lower total liabilities in fiscal 2024 than in fiscal 2019, while the remaining 952 reported higher liabilities.

It matters what “total liabilities” means on a club return. The form “Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax,” published by the Internal Revenue Service, defines total liabilities (Part X, line 26) as the sum of lines 17 through 25 and breaks out borrowing separately: secured mortgages and notes payable to unrelated third parties (line 23) and unsecured notes and loans payable (line 24), alongside accounts payable, deferred revenue such as dues billed in advance, and other liabilities. The ruling “UT PLR 00-014: Golf Club Deposit Sales Tax Ruling,” published by Ezel (reproducing Utah State Tax Commission Advisory Opinion 00-014, August 2000), addresses refundable membership deposits that a club must return to members, which the requesting club described as genuine liabilities to its members. The return has no line labeled for member deposits, so a club whose liabilities rose may simply have admitted members under a refundable-deposit plan. The ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer profiles “Olympic Club,” and “Dallas Country Club,” published by ProPublica, report that in fiscal 2023 the two clubs’ returns listed $84.7 million of secured mortgages and notes within $110.5 million of total liabilities at Olympic (fiscal 2023 Form 990) and $30.0 million within $42.8 million at Dallas (fiscal 2023 Form 990). The total-liabilities line alone, in other words, is not a measure of what a club owes a bank.

The Likeliest Source: Members, Not Lenders

The form “Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax,” published by the Internal Revenue Service, directs clubs exempt under section 501(c)(7) to report initiation fees and capital contributions that are included in total revenue on Part V, line 10a. The dataset “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows that, among the 1,257 panel clubs that reported line 10a, including zero, in every year from fiscal 2020 through fiscal 2024, the sub-panel reported $5.64 billion in cumulative initiation fees and capital contributions while its total assets rose $7.24 billion, made up of a $4.99 billion increase in net assets and a $2.25 billion increase in total liabilities.

These two figures are not a strict sources-and-uses statement. Initiation fees can pay for operations, replenish reserves or cover depreciation, and assets can grow for reasons that have nothing to do with a new member’s check. The form “Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax,” published by the Internal Revenue Service, counts line 10a amounts as part of total revenue, so they reach net assets only after expenses. The dataset “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows that cumulative line 10a receipts of $5.64 billion were larger than the sub-panel’s entire net-asset increase, so some of that money was absorbed elsewhere before it reached the bottom line, and that set against a $2.25 billion rise in all liabilities, member capital points one way. The likeliest reading, in aggregate, is that members, through initiation fees and capital contributions, funded most of this build-out, and that outside obligations played a supporting role rather than a leading one.

Seven Clubs, Seven Different Balance Sheets

The ProPublica “Nonprofit Explorer” profiles listed in Sources, published by ProPublica and built from each club’s own Form 990 filings, report that each of the seven clubs below added more than $56 million in total assets between fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2024. They show how differently the same headline number can be composed.

The ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer profile “The Union League of Philadelphia,” published by ProPublica, reports that the club, the largest increase in the group at $97.7 million, grew its assets 81.5 percent, with about two-thirds of that growth, $65.8 million, on the liabilities side and its liabilities-to-assets ratio moving from 40.3 percent to 52.5 percent. The ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer profile “Houston Country Club,” published by ProPublica, reports a similar shape at a different scale: total assets up 118.5 percent, with liabilities accounting for $47.8 million of the $76.1 million increase, its ratio rising from 21.3 percent to 43.8 percent, and $58.2 million in line 10a receipts over the five years, more than double its $28.3 million increase in net assets.

The ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer profiles “Olympic Club,” “Boca West Country Club Inc,” and “Dallas Country Club,” published by ProPublica, report that The Olympic Club, Boca West Country Club and Dallas Country Club also grew mostly on the liabilities side, with that side accounting for between 55 and 66 percent of each club’s increase. The ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer profiles “Boca West Country Club Inc,” and “Dallas Country Club,” published by ProPublica, report zero on line 10a in every year from fiscal 2020 through fiscal 2024. That does not mean their members contributed nothing: the form “Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax,” published by the Internal Revenue Service, limits line 10a to amounts included in total revenue (Part VIII, line 12), so member capital that a club records some other way, such as a refundable deposit carried as a liability, would not appear there.

At the other end sit Palm Beach Country Club and Desert Mountain Club. The ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer profile “Palm Beach Country Club,” published by ProPublica, reports that the club grew total assets from $23.8 million to $84.9 million, a 257 percent increase, with net assets accounting for $44.9 million of the $61.1 million gain. The ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer profile “Desert Mountain Club Inc,” published by ProPublica, reports total assets up $56.6 million while total liabilities fell $1.6 million, from $46.0 million to $44.4 million, net assets up $58.2 million, $54.8 million in initiation fees and capital contributions over the same five years, and a liabilities-to-assets ratio that fell from 31.3 percent to 21.8 percent. Every dollar of growth, and then some, landed in net assets, which makes it the cleanest example in the group.

What This Means for Your Club

Benchmark the composition, not just the size. The dataset “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows a panel median liabilities-to-assets ratio of 36.8 percent. A board approving a 2027 capital plan should know where the club’s own ratio sits against it, and which direction it moved since fiscal 2019. A club that grew on the liabilities side while the median club moved the other way should be able to explain why.

Break total liabilities into its parts before the vote. The form “Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax,” published by the Internal Revenue Service, separates deferred revenue (Part X, line 19), secured mortgages and notes (line 23) and unsecured notes and loans (line 24), but member deposits are not separately labeled and may sit in other liabilities (line 25, itemized on Schedule D, Part X) or elsewhere. Your audited statements can show what is inside. Members reading the public return will see one number. The board should be ready to explain it.

Treat initiation revenue as capital, and plan for it to vary. If the likeliest reading of the sub-panel is right, initiation fees and capital contributions carried most of the sector’s build-out. A plan that depends on that pace continuing should be stress-tested against a slower year of new-member intake.

Know what line 10a captures. The ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer profiles “Boca West Country Club Inc,” and “Dallas Country Club,” published by ProPublica, report nothing on line 10a for two of the seven featured clubs, both of which still grew their balance sheets substantially. The form “Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax,” published by the Internal Revenue Service, reports on line 10a only initiation fees and capital contributions included in total revenue, so if your club records member capital another way, peers and prospective members comparing returns may not see it. That is worth knowing before a capital campaign is presented to the membership.

Size the plan to your peer set. The dataset “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, shows 17 panel clubs now above $100 million in assets and a panel median of $11.62 million, so “what other clubs are doing” covers a very wide range. Compare against clubs with similar asset bases and revenue, not against the headline names.

How We Did This

The dataset “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, defines the constant panel as every club in our database that reported total assets, total liabilities and net assets on both its fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2024 Form 990, with revenue of at least $1 million in both years, which yields 1,447 clubs. Fiscal years are labeled by the year in which the club’s reporting period ends, so a fiscal 2024 return may cover a year ending in any month of 2024. The dataset “Form 990 Series Downloads,” published by the Internal Revenue Service and analyzed by Private Club Marketing, defines the initiation sub-panel as the 1,257 clubs from that panel that reported line 10a, including zero, in every fiscal year from 2020 through 2024, with line 10a figures summed across those five years. The form “Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax,” published by the Internal Revenue Service, defines total liabilities as Part X, line 26, the sum of lines 17 through 25, which includes deferred revenue and borrowing (lines 23 and 24) and may include member deposits where a club records them as liabilities; we did not separate those components. Land, buildings and equipment are reported at cost less depreciation. Cumulative initiation receipts and the change in assets are not a sources-and-uses reconciliation. Only member-owned 501(c)(7) clubs that file a public 990 are included; developer-owned and investor-owned clubs are not. Club-level figures are taken from each club’s own Form 990 as published by the IRS and ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.

For the revenue side of the same filings, see our ranking of the top 10 private clubs by revenue in California, and for the rate backdrop to a 2027 plan, our note on the Fed and club capital planning.

Sources

Total assets, total liabilities and net assets are end-of-year figures. Initiation fees and capital contributions are from Part V, line 10a. Fiscal years are labeled by the year the club’s reporting period ends. Panel statistics are Private Club Marketing calculations from the public IRS data below.

• IRS Form 990 (Part I, line 22; Part V, line 10a; Part X, lines 10–26; Part XI)
• IRS Form 990 series downloads
• IRS Statistics of Income: Annual Extract of Tax-Exempt Organization Financial Data
• ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, Form 990 filings: The Union League of Philadelphia; Boca West Country Club Inc; Houston Country Club; Palm Beach Country Club; Olympic Club; Dallas Country Club; Desert Mountain Club Inc
• “UT PLR 00-014: Golf Club Deposit Sales Tax Ruling,” Ezel (reproducing Utah State Tax Commission Advisory Opinion 00-014, August 29, 2000; refundable membership deposits)
• “Form 990 Series Downloads,” Internal Revenue Service (page updated September 2026), as analyzed by Private Club Marketing