近幾年來，具有公益目的的非營利組織相關議題的研究在台灣已受到學術界與實務界人士的重視。然而在台灣社會裡所指稱的非營利組織究竟是指哪些類型的組織或團體呢?其範圍有多大?非營利部門在台灣的整體輪廓究竟為何，以及該類型組織的特質如何與其他額型組織做一區別與分類，是進行此一議題領域研究的一項極為重要的基礎工作。此外，政府對於非營利組織的行為規範，如稅法的各項租稅減免規定，以及組織成立、治理行為、責信要求等的監督法則，更是深刻影響非營利組織的發展與功能的發揮。基此，本文先探究非營利組織的定義與範圍，再從現行法律的規範面闡述在台灣，非營利組織究竟包含哪些類型的團體及機構；現象描述之後，接著分析現象產生的原因，在此以社團法人及財團法人基金會為例分析台灣非營利組織近十年來興盛的原困與現況。最後針對現行行政院十九個部會制定的「財團法人設立許可與監督準則」內容進行分析，以暸解政府在法規面上如何管理財團法人基金會的運作與行為。

Recently, academics and professionals view the study of nonprofit organizations and its related topics as an extremely important task. But, it is still too vague for us to know the real world of nonprofit organizations in Taiwan. Actually speaking, there is a long way to go until we adequately develop a definition and typology of nonprofit organizations which are compatible with Taiwanese society. The purpose of this paper is to explore and answer the following questions: What is the whole configuration of the nonprofit sector in Taiwan? What are the primary characteristics of this sector? And how can we distinguish this sector with the other two sectors (public and private for-profit organizations)? Why the size of the nonprofit sector has grown dramatically since the mid-1980s in Taiwan? Most importantly, what are the laws and regulations enacted by the Taiwanese government to monitor the operation of the nonprofit sector, especially for foundations?