Nonprofits in Washington: 2004

The Landscape of Nonprofits in Washington

Nonprofit organizations are a fundamental part of American life and every Washington community. So much so that they exist behind what might be called a veil of familiarity - touching everyone’s lives in myriad ways, yet seldom observed with care.

The bald statistics presented in this report suggest the importance of giving greater attention to these vital community institutions. There are a lot of them - nearly 50,000 in Washington state. They are essential contributors to healthy communities - offering everything from art to zoos with major commitments to education, health, religious life, and social services included in the range. And they play a significant part in the economy of our state, whether measured by annual contributions received (over $13 billion), wages paid yearly (reports of a few total nearly $6 billion), assets managed (nearly $53 billion), or program service revenues (over $30 billion in 2001).

Johns Hopkins professor Lester Salamon writes in The State of Nonprofit America that nonprofits perform five key functions in our society:

• they provide critical services;

• they give voice through advocacy to people's interests and concerns;

• they are vehicles for the expression of religious, cultural and community values;

• they build social capital through collaboration and association; and

• they demonstrate our core values of individualism and responsibility to the community.

Washington's nonprofits demonstrate the manifold ways these things can happen.

Washington state is home to the nation’s largest private foundation, charitable institutions like United Ways and community foundations that consistently lead the ranks of their counterparts across the country, some of our country’s most significant vehicles for international philanthropy and development assistance, and a long list of distinguished artistic, educational, health care, religious and community service organizations. Every Washingtonian can identify valuable and distinguished nonprofits that inspire admiration and touch lives for the better.

As the data assembled for this report demonstrate, these marquee nonprofits are only part - albeit a significant part - of a complete picture. For every nonprofit with a household name, there are hundreds of others doing work of great consequence in less visible ways. Furthermore, brief introspection suggests that there are uncounted numbers of informal organizations - book clubs, sports teams, block watches, support groups, etc. etc. etc - whose existence and activities are not recorded in any of the official statistics. Envisaging the complete landscape of nonprofits in Washington requires supplementing the available data with an appreciation of these unmeasured community assets.

On many of the policy questions surrounding the work of nonprofits there can no doubt be reasonable differences of opinion and goals. Are there too many nonprofits, or too few? Should it be easier to start new ones, or harder? Should the privileges enjoyed by nonprofits carry greater responsibilities, or should commitment to public benefit confer exceptionally broad scope for independent action?

Nonprofits in Washington:2004 does not attempt to resolve such questions. The report will make a positive contribution to the discussion if it reminds advocates, observers and policy makers of the breadth, complexity and sheer variety that characterize the nonprofits in Washington state.

Putnam Barber, March 2004

(These paragraphs are the concluding section of Nonprofits in Washington: 2004, a report on the scope and character of the nonprofit sector in the state which was published April 1, 2004, by The Evergreen State Society.  The full text is online at http:/www.tess.org/NPinWA.)