Seeing Charity Every Block You Drive or Walk

I tend to think of charity or nonprofit work as ubiquitous. It's everywhere. Easy to spot. People see it. And there are times when I'm reminded that this fact is true. In the same vein, I'm also reminded that many don't see it and sometimes data or outcomes help define truly how charity permeates our community.

I was fascinated by an article in the Nonprofit Times that did just that... it told the story of how nonprofit work is everywhere. In an article about Idaho nonprofits flexing their economic muscles, there was a study done to demonstrate the power of philanthropy. And in economic or impact terms.

In Idaho, the study found that more than 67,000 jobs in the state, or about 12% of the workforce, work in nonprofit areas. That's more than agriculture or construction. That the citizens of Idaho trust nonprofits and charities even more than before the pandemic, now at a high 82% of trustworthiness. And economically, the financial benefits of nonprofits total $116 million in state taxes, particularly from nonprofit employees who are paid each year.

I spend, as well as others, a great deal of time talking about the outcomes of different nonprofits. Whether it's food pantries and kitchens and how many people they feed, or homeless shelters and how many people they provide overnight housing for, or hospitals and how many people they don't bill placing those debts into charity care. Those are critical numbers we should all be aware of. They're the stories we want to tell to build a sense of the value of the work we do.

But to be candid, there are economic, data-driven, results we don't speak of often enough. While we are nonprofits, meaning we don't pay taxes, we are still businesses. We pay employees. We pay rent or own land. Depending on the activity, we pay taxes. We are an economic engine for our community.

Let's continue to tell the stories of the people we help. But at the same time, let's not forget about some of the financial and economic impact we have that contributes in making our community a better place to live.