Nonprofits make money for our community

That was certainly the headline takeaway from an Adirondack Nonprofit Network conference in Tupper Lake on Thursday.

This was a collaborative event–organized by the Adirondack Foundation and the Adirondack North Country Association and hosted by The Wild Center–focusing on a report produced by the Adirondack Foundation, based on a SUNY Oswego study of 36 nonprofits located in and serving the Adirondack north country. The sample included a wide range of organizations–large and small, arts-oriented and human services groups, as well as educational and health institutions. It is estimated that there are at least 500 nonprofits across the region.

On Monday’s regional news hour between 8-9 am, Brian Mann will have a full story on the conference, the report findings, and an overview of the presenters and attendees.

I wanted to take a moment to use my attendance at the event to underscore the economic contribution those 500+ nonprofits make to our region–and it’s in the billions, even by the most conservative estimates.

I also want to formally acknowledge the name and logo change recently implemented by the Adirondack Foundation, which was previously known as ACT, the Adirondack Community Trust. You’ll want to visit their very nicely reconfigured webspace, where you’ll find the full Economic Impact report. The Adirondack Foundation has partnered with NCPR on several important–even transformational–projects: collaborating with us to build an endowment fund to help sustain our Adirondack News Bureau and inviting us to implement the goals of a Knight Foundation grant.

Which nonprofits in your community stand out as important players in the life of your town or county?