The exact definitions vary by country, I am not sure how it is precisely in the USA. In Australia, basically it means the company is not for the benefit of any

The exact definitions vary by country, I am not sure how it is precisely in the USA. In Australia, basically it means the company is not for the benefit of any given person and you cannot distribute profits by taking them and chopping them up - and you must distribute any leftover funds if the organisations winds up to a like-minded not-for-profit organisation., You can still however make money, pay employees (even if it's a large amount) for work done, etc. Not-for-profits are also sometimes conflated with Charities. In Australia they are two different things, a not-for-profit can be a charity and vica-versa but they don't need to be both.