Impact of Nonprofits

A quick rummage through some government labor data suggests nonprofit organizations account for 14 to 15% of all economic activity in the United States. That conclusion only deals with employment. What about accumulated assets on their books? What of their activities and the lasting value created among their beneficiaries? What downstream impact do nonprofits have in our economy?


Indeed! The nature of nonprofits is investment in people – education, healthcare, rescue of unfortunates (animals and humans!), housing, music and all the other arts, social services and so many other ‘causes’ with value to our communities. The latter certainly includes environmental protection, beautification, and so much more.


Our society invests in people. We help educate citizens from pre-school through higher education. That benefits not just the individuals involved, but society at large. New technologies are not just discovered, invented and brought into the full light of day, but people are taught how to use, benefit from and advance the same technology.


Housing the homeless or marginalized, we focus on people in trouble. Helping them with immediate shelter is stop gap. What follows are social services that may rescue a person from certain death back to healthy self-sufficiency. Turning an unproductive, troubled life into a valued contributor to community is a worthy goal.


Helping people with addictions find a new way forward without the drugs or booze, builds a better future for the community one life at a time.


Helping a homeless teen mother protects her and her child for a better future benefitting the rest of us.

Providing education for those without resources discovers playwrights, poets, engineers and inventors we otherwise would have lost.


There are those among us who declaim nonprofits as feeders at the public trough. Such complaints discount the work done that we the people don’t do otherwise. Government may have the financial resources, but it doesn’t have the people power or organizational structure to get the job done. Nonprofits are the engines working the streets and producing the results.


I’ve spent most of my career working in and for nonprofits. I didn’t consciously do this, but one day after 50+ years, it was pointed out to me that I had spent my adult life in the nonprofit world. You know what? It has been a wonderful ride! The rewards are tremendous. Satisfaction is but one of those.


The impact of most nonprofit organizations is terrific. In fact, it is so huge, we often don’t recognize it. Take the output of colleges and universities. They produce immediate economic value in operations, salaries, services and physical structures. A university often is worth $1 billion in buildings and equipment. It may spend another billion on operations annually. That money works into the surrounding economy immediately. But then comes the impact of its students working and growing into mature careers and economic activity in the broader economy for generations to come.

And that is only the impact of one sector of our society.


Nonprofits may start small, but they end up large enough to make a difference in our economic life. What they do to make that happen, impacts our values, our senses and so much more.


Today I am thankful for all the nonprofits among us making America strong and purposeful. That’s a worthy impact to cherish.


November 20, 2019