Bruce Reed and John Bridgeland, the heads of Domestic Policy for Presidents Bill Clinton and Bush, respectively, issued a report today highlighting a looming crisis in the charitable sector:
“More than 14 million Americans – 11 percent of American workers – are employed by or volunteer full-time in the nonprofit sector. That’s more than the financial industry and the auto industry combined;
Churches, many of which deliver social services to the poor and needy, raised $3 billion to $5 billion less than expected in the last quarter of 2008;
United Way saw a 68 percent increase during the past year in the number of calls for basic needs such as securing food, shelter, and warm clothing;
Goodwill of Central Arizona reported nearly twice the number of visits to its centers on December 23, 2008, compared to the same day in 2007″
They cited many other examples of the non-profit sector’s capacity contracting as the need expands — and offered several “post partisan” suggestions for how to help the non-profit sector.
One idea they point to is expanding full-time national service. How would that help? One of the great misconceptions about AmeriCorps is that it’s a big government-run corps like the CCC of the New Deal. In fact, most of the AmeriCorps members work for non-profit groups. It is, in effect, a highly cost-effective non-profit subsidy program.
I say highly effective because one of the main things these full time service folks do is recruit and manage unpaid volunteers, thereby acting as a force multiplier for the non profit.
They also suggest a fund for social innovation,tax changes to encourage charitable giving and other creative ideas.
posted March 3, 2009 at 5:45 pm
What an interesting, yet saddening article. I knew non-profits were hurting, however I did not know to what extent. Thank you for providing tips on how to help the shrinking non-profit sector. I especially like the notion of encouraging to donate (not necessarily a monetary donation) to a charity of choice.
posted March 4, 2009 at 9:56 am
I’ve been in the non-profit sector my entire life. My dad is a pastor, and my mom works for that church. I studied religion in college and then went on to seminary.
I graduated in May of ’08, when the economy was just turning downward.
I couldn’t find a job, so I started working at Best Buy part-time. Then, I heard about an AmeriCorps*VISTA program in my city that gave me an excellent opportunity to serve others and scratch out enough money to pay the bills.
With the economy where it is, I would love to see more people consider taking the AmeriCorps risk. You won’t make much, but you’ll make a difference. And right now, the need is higher than it’s been in a long time.
posted May 16, 2009 at 4:46 am
jobs:
An organization needs both profit and growth. A non profit organization offering more jobs than other sectors.So it’s growing.
full time part time jobs
full time part time job