Numbers paint a vibrant, diverse picture of nonprofit sector
Alyce Lee Stansbury, CFRE, Notes on Nonprofits
This week’s column is a round robin of information, upcoming trainings, and resources.
The Florida Nonprofit Alliance released a new report entitled, “Economic Benefits of Florida’s Nonprofit Sector.” This is an annual snapshot of the size, scope, and economic contributions of the sector. Before I share some of the highlights, see if you know or can guess the answers to these questions.
1. How many charitable nonprofits are there in the state of Florida?
2. What is the annual payroll of Florida’s nonprofit sector?
3. Where does Florida rank in the number of nonprofits per 1,000 residents?
4. How many people are employed in Florida’s nonprofit sector?
5. How many charitable nonprofits are in Leon County?
Here are the answers from this year’s report based on data from 2019.
1. There are 94,000 nonprofits in Florida which includes public charities with arts, education, history, education, health care and environmental missions; and private foundations who devote their earnings to support charitable causes such as the John S. And James L. Knight Foundation.
2. The annual payroll of Florida’s charitable nonprofit sector is $33 billion.
3. Florida ranks 47th out of 50 in the number of nonprofits per 1,000 residents which is like Kentucky and Arkansas. This one surprised me a bit. Despite hearing the comment, “there are too many nonprofits” many times, the data indicates Florida’s nonprofit sector is smaller compared to states our size and population.
4. Florida’s nonprofit sector employs 629,386 people and makes up 6.5 percent of the state’s overall workforce. This compares in employment size to the construction (6.6%) and manufacturing (5.2%) sectors.
5. In Leon County, there are 2,371 charitable nonprofits and 22,838 people are employed in the nonprofit sector.
The report paints a clear picture of a diverse, vibrant nonprofit sector that contributes significantly to the economic vitality and serves the citizens of this state. It includes helpful information for grant seekers, funders and elected officials, and volunteer leaders. The report is interactive, so you sort the data by county and region of the state. Learn more at www.flnonprofits.org.
Hats off to Kathleen Spehar with Council on Culture and Arts, Amber Tynan at United Partners for Human Services, and Felina Martin at the Institute for Nonprofit Innovation and Excellence and their respective boards, who have been working together to advocate for the nonprofit sector.
This included support for the recently awarded LEAN grants and a series of virtual Town Hall meetings. I encourage readers to reach out to these organizations to learn more about their work to strengthen local nonprofits and for information about membership.
Building Better Boards, Leadership Tallahassee’s annual training for new and seasoned board members, is being held virtually on June 23 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. This event has been a mainstay of providing quality education and training to local board members. Sponsored this year by Big Bend Cares, the host is G.C. Murray II, and the speakers are Bob Harris, CAE; Tony Carvajal, CEO of The Able Trust; and yours truly. The cost is $25 and registration is open at www.leadershiptallahassee.com.
Women Wednesdays is hosting an online discussion via Facebook Live on June 24 from 1 to 2 p.m. titled, “Race, Gender and Inequality” with the extraordinary Talethia Edwards, President of the Greater Bond Neighborhood Association and last year’s recipient of Leadership Tallahassee’s Leadership Pacesetter Award. The show is led by Barbara Westcott, founder of Women Wednesdays and a vocal champion for women entrepreneurs in the profit and nonprofit sectors, and hosted by Chrissy Souders, owner of Kitschy Wearable Art, who does an amazing job.
The Big Bend chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) is continuing to provide online resources and workshops for its members and anyone involved in charitable fundraising. The next session will be Aug. 26 from 8 a.m. to noon and the speaker is Ian Adair, a three-time nonprofit CEO and fund development expert who has raised millions of dollars by focusing on one strategy: winning donor attention.
In a 2020 world, Ian helps organizations utilize mobile devices, digital platforms, and social media to support and enhance nonprofit fundraising and marketing to win the battle for donor attention in a very competitive charitable environment. A final decision has not been if the session will be live or virtual so visit www.afpbigbend.org to learn more and register.
Planet Philanthropy, AFP’s annual state fundraising conference, which was to be held this week, has been postponed to 2021. Follow Planet Philanthropy on Facebook or visit www.afpflorida.org for future updates.
I encourage you will take advantage of these opportunities to strengthen your favorite nonprofit.
Notes on Nonprofits is produced and edited by Alyce Lee Stansbury, CFRE, President of Stansbury Consulting, and Kelly Otte, MPA, who is on sabbatical. Send your questions and feedback to [email protected]. 