Some Facts About Nonprofits That Might Surprise You

There may be some surprising facts about nonprofits that you might not know! It’s true, we know that nonprofits come in all shapes and sizes. And we know they have a wide variety of services and interests to serve the nonprofit sector. However, there are a number of lesser known factoids and interesting trivia tidbits that most of us never stop to consider. As a result, words like ‘unique’ or ‘unusual’ could easily substitute for ‘surprising’ when it comes to facts about nonprofits. GrantWatch has gathered some of these facts for you, our faithful readers. What’s more, we’re also offering a select number of special grant opportunities you may want to check out!

Some Surprising Facts About Nonprofits

Touching every part of our lives, there is a nonprofit to fit every aspect of the human condition. They are quite literally the lifeblood of our country. The amount of revenue they generate alone is simply astounding! With so many surprising facts about nonprofits to choose from, it’s difficult to choose which to list. However, in the end, we narrowed it down to three sources we think have the most valuable information. To begin, Sharon Meyers, EdD leads our discussion:

• The nonprofit sector is 10% of the U.S. workforce.
• Revenue from the nonprofit sector is 5.6% of the U.S. GDP.
• The nonprofit sector generates $2.4 trillion in revenue for the U.S. economy.
• 73% of nonprofits have annual revenue of $100,000 or less per year.
• 25% of Americans volunteer.

These statistics amazing! As of February of this year, there are 167+ million people in the U.S. work force . Just 10% of that is 16.7 million people who are employed by nonprofits.

Additional Surprising Facts About Nonprofits

In addition, prepare to be amazed by the following from Walden College:

• If the nonprofit sector were a country, it would be the 16th largest in the world, as measured by gross domestic product, says The World Bank Group.
• Individuals, foundations, and bequests contributed $358 billion to nonprofits in 2014.

And finally, TeamStage has some follow factoids:

• There are approximately 1.8 million nonprofits in the US (sic).
• [Of those]…1.5 million are 501(c)(3) orgs in the U.S. … includes public charities, private foundations, and private operating foundations.
• Approximately 67% of donors also volunteer.
• Baby Boomers are statistically more likely to volunteer than Millennials.
• The average donor in the US (sic) is 64 years old.
• Nonprofit organizations worldwide play a vital role in strengthening communities and generating revenue for the industries they serve.

Below is a select list from GrantWatch. We chose some of the more surprising grant opportunities currently displayed. Of course, this is only a small subset of the nearly 7,000 grants in the Grants for Nonprofits category!

Surprising Grants, Cooperative Agreements, and Competition Opportunities

1. To begin, there is an opportunity for a nonprofits. Teams of innovators will compete for prizes to develop wave energy technologies.
2. Next, competition for nonprofits to increase the nutritive value of foods and to develop previously underused crops.
3. Grants up to $3,000 to eligible nonprofits to carry out small-scale humanities projects and programs. Funding supports innovative activities that include one or more humanities scholars.
4. In addition, grants up to $10,000 to local nonprofits for projects and programs to benefit low-income residents. Funding support essential social and public services. 
5. Cooperative agreements to nonprofits to install technology to remove debris from eligible bodies of water.

Additional Surprising Grant Opportunities

1. There are also grants of up to $20,000 to nonprofits. Projects preserve and manage records, including historical records conservation, and imaging for permanent records.
2. In addition, there are grants to nonprofit and for-profit organizations for research projects related to aerospace science. Projects support research addressing unpredictable climate events and changes. In addition, and research that will lead to new breakthroughs in Earth remote sensing.
3. Lastly, grants to nonprofits, artist collectives, groups, ensembles, businesses, and educational institutions for projects related to Ukrainian Canadian dance. Funding supports professional development and training, tours, and concert production. Funding is for all forms of Ukrainian Canadian dance, including ballet, folk ballet, and contemporary dance.
4. To continue, cooperative agreements to nonprofits to improve maternal health for women. Specifically, funding improves health outcomes.
5. Finally, grants to nonprofit organizations and schools for programs that improve educational outcomes.

In closing, we hope these lists will help you appreciate some of the wide variety of unique opportunities available from among the GrantWatch directory listings of close to 28,000 grants and other funding!

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