Amid the gloom of the job market, there is a bright spot where openings are up 34 percent over this time last year.
The Colorado Nonprofit Association had 2008 job postings of 3,474. Openings fell by 25 percent, to 2,598, in 2009, but last year rebounded to the 2008 level.
And this year, association president Renny Fagan said, the state’s nonprofits are on track to offer 4,000 jobs.
“When the economy is bad, demand for nonprofit services goes up,” Fagan said.
That doesn’t necessarily mean the donations and revenues that pay for these jobs go up proportionately, he said, but a significant number of the state’s roughly 29,000 nonprofit organizations — including 19,000 public charities — found ways to broaden their donor bases or otherwise locate new moneys.
“Most nonprofits serve a cause for their communities,” Fagan said. “They are optimistic by nature, creative and tenacious.”
While the Colorado Nonprofit Association’s membership is just under 1,372, Fagan said, any nonprofit can post on its online jobs board for a fee.
The environment for philanthropy has been challenging in recent years, but it’s clear the charitable giving is still a core American value, according to the Indiana-based Giving USA Foundation’s 2011 report.
Total estimated charitable giving in the U.S. in 2010 rose 3.8 percent (2.1 percent when adjusted for inflation), reflecting the modest economic recovery seen that year. Total contributions were about $291 billion, Giving USA reported.
Giving by individuals increased an estimated 2.7 percent (1.1 percent adjusted for inflation), while corporate giving rose an estimated 10.6 percent (8.8 percent adjusted for inflation).
While donations to religious, human services, health, environmental and animal organizations barely increased or didn’t increase, giving to education, arts, culture, humanities and social-benefit organizations rose more than 5 percent (roughly 4 percent when adjusted for inflation).
The biggest jump, 13.5 percent, was in giving to international causes and to fight humanitarian crises, including the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
Electa Draper: 303-954-1276 or edraper@denverpost.com
