They're now the state's fourth-largest economic sector
JOAN BARRON Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Friday, June 20, 2008 12:00 am
LARAMIE - Nonprofit corporations are now the fourth-largest economic sector in the state and are among the fastest-growing.
The reason, according to nonprofit officials, is the increased need coupled with a heightened recognition of philanthropy.
To be better educated and trained to run these nonprofits, more than 200 participants are attending "Wyoming Philanthropy Days" at the University of Wyoming Conference Center in Laramie.
The conference - sponsored by the Wyoming Community Foundation, a nonprofit charitable organization, in partnership with Serve Wyoming, a group that works with volunteers - runs through today.
George Gault, the executive director of the Wyoming Community Foundation, said the endowment programs authorized by the Wyoming Legislature "have been a catalyst to make people conscious about the possibility of giving to something they care about."
One study estimates that in Wyoming $60 billion will transfer inter-generationally in the next 50 years.
"So we're trying to make the case to folks that this is an opportunity to give something back to your community," he said. "We're beginning to see something of that."
He said Edna Sykes of Basin, who was married to a contractor, died two years ago and, after bequeathing money to the library and other groups and relatives, still left $1.4 million to benefit the little towns in south Big Horn County, including Basin, Greybull, Manderson, Hyatville and Emblem.
The Wyoming Community Foundation, he said Thursday, had to help the nonprofits and the advisory committee apply for the money.
The number of reporting nonprofits in Wyoming grew from 531 to 895 between 1995 and 2005, according to the National Center for Charitable Statistics, Urban Institute.
By 2005 these 895 charitable nonprofits held more than $2 billion in assets and spent nearly $800 million, the center report said.
About 42 percent of the nonprofit spending went for human services.
The 895 nonprofits were large enough to file the Internal Revenue Service Form 990, meaning they each had an annual budget of $25,000.
The majority of Wyoming nonprofits do not even meet that threshold, the report said.
One purpose of "Philanthropy Days" since its beginning is to give nonprofit grantees a chance to meet "living, breathing funders," the people who are going to make grants, Gault said.
"There is no solicitation, but we do want them to establish a relationship with the funders," he added.
Nonprofit activity has picked up because of the economic needs in energy-impacted areas including Sublette and Campbell counties, said Samin Dadelahi, senior program officer for the Wyoming Community Foundation.
Also, Wyoming has an increase in the number of older residents who provide a pool of volunteers.
"We are among the top states in the number of individuals that volunteer," Dadelahi said.
Because of the general dearth of technical or training services available statewide, the conference, which is held every two years, is a big draw for some of the larger nonprofit organizations, from all the major foundations and brand-new start-up operations, she said.
They receive training in everything from fundraising to grant-writing to budgeting.
Jennifer Zenor, executive director of the Wyoming Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault, said the scope of service by her group has expanded over the last 20 to 30 years.
When these programs began, they provided a night's shelter or immediate crisis assistance, she said.
"We know that it takes much more than a couple nights of shelter. There are a lot of other factors that go into victims being safe," Zenor said.
The coalition is part of an economic empowerment project, because lack of funding and financial resources is why victims of domestic violence return to their abusers.
"We're getting into the point where we're looking into the root causes of why those things happen," she said.
Contact Joan Barron at joan.barron@trib.com or by phone at 307-632-1244.