While many business categories have been in decline during the past 10 years, the number of nonprofit organizations in Florida has grown by 80 percent to more than 83,000. The sector’s workforce has grown 40 percent to more than 530,000 people with an annual payroll of more than $26 billion, according to a report released by the Florida Nonprofit Alliance.
“We did the survey to showcase the impact of the nonprofit sector and we’ll share that knowledge with elected officials in Tallahassee and Washington (D.C.). We want to make sure they’re aware of the nonprofit sector in their districts,” said Sabeen Perwaiz, alliance executive director.
The report combines data from charitable organizations (arts, philanthropic, health care and social services that exist for the benefit of the community or society) and non-charitable organizations such as business leagues, civic associations, chambers of commerce federal- and state-chartered credit unions and mutual insurance companies.
The statewide nonprofit workforce represents about 6 percent of nonfarm employment, comparable to the construction industry at 6.6 percent and manufacturing, which employs 5.2 percent of the workforce, according to the study.
Zooming in on the seven-county Northeast Florida region designated in the report (Baker, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Putnam, Nassau and St. Johns counties), more than 47,400 people are employed by nonprofits and have an annual combined payroll of $2.24 billion.
The Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida also studies the sector with its focus limited to organizations in Baker, Clay, Duval, Nassau and St. Johns counties formed for the purpose of benefiting society that are classified by the IRS as 501(c)(3).
According to its study, about 58,000 people in the five counties are employed by about 1,000 charitable nonprofits, second to the finance, insurance and real estate sector (about 69,000) and ahead of transportation, warehousing and utilities (about 41,500), construction (about 38,000) and manufacturing (about 36,000).
That’s about 12 percent of the private employment in the region, double the statewide average reported in the alliance study.
In terms of sector share, human services providers lead the list at about 24 percent of the nonprofits. Organizations devoted to arts and culture, general health, general education and public support and benefit each represent about 10 percent of the area’s nonprofit organizations.
The Nonprofit Center’s study indicates that charitable organizations mirror the for-profit sector in terms of size.
Less than $500,000 in annual revenue was reported by 66 percent of the organizations. About 10 percent reported revenue of $500,000 to $1 million.
On the high end of the scale, organizations reporting revenue of more than $100 million include Nemours Foundation, Baptist Health, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, its associated St. Luke’s Hospital, and St. Vincent’s Medical Center.
To learn more about Florida’s nonprofits, visit flnonprofits.org.
For more data on Northeast Florida’s charitable organizations, visit nonprofitctr.org.
Florida’s nonprofits
The economic impact of Florida’s nonprofit community is vast:
Employment: 534,116 jobs
Payroll: $26.6 billion
Assets: $205.8 billion
NORTHEAST FLORIDA NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS PROVIDE:
58,000 jobs
$2.7 billion payroll
$46,000 average wage
153,000 volunteers
$98.7 million in volunteer time
Source: Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida
Source: FLNonProfits
Source: DailyRecord
