I Have 10 Things to Say...

From left to right: Kim Ellsworth (INC), Kevin Bailey (INC), Senator Treg Bernt, and Bud Compher (CEO, NeighborWorks Boise) on a recent nonprofit legislative outreach visit.

Thoughts, observations, and stream of consciousness* on the nonprofit sector in Idaho from INC's, Kevin Bailey.

1 –  Human services needs continue to rise in our communities. On a recent legislative visit with INC nonprofit member Metro Meals on Wheels, CEO Grant Jones shared that they are delivering an additional 300 meals per day compared to this time last year, representing a 7% increase year-over-year.

If legislators and state agencies want to know what is happening on the ground in their districts, just ask the nonprofits. 

2 – Recently our 2024 cohort of Essentials of Development participating organizations wrapped up their capstone work in the program by presenting their case statements. During the final class, we asked them to reflect on what they learned and gained from the experience:

• “I learned we are much more capable of raising the funds we need than I thought we were.” – Idaho Wishgranters
• “I learned we are more prepared to raise the next level of funding support than I thought we were going into the program.” – City of Good
• “I learned we are ready to step up our game using a more ‘donor-centric approach’ and we have taken great strides to building a culture of philanthropy across the entire organization.” -Wassmuth Center
• “We have vastly improved on defining what our story is and how we’ll tell it effectively in our fundraising efforts.” – Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust

Congrats to the 2024 participants in this cohort and we look forward to the 2025 cohort, to be announced soon! 

3 – The Idaho legislative session is coming up and one area of growth in our sector at-large is the development of advocacy skills for nonprofits. It’s important to remember that charitable nonprofits (i.e., 501(c)(3) orgs) can lobby up to a certain amount of expenditures under IRS guidelines. However, most advocacy is not lobbying. If lobbying is not feasible (due to board policies, etc), there is still plenty of ways to advocate.

• Learn more at our upcoming Advocacy 101 training on Jan 8, 2025. Link to register is here.

​4 – Sector research is advocacy as well. We have some regular research reports we put out here at INC like our State of the Sector report and we’re excited to pair that with some upcoming reports at the Idaho Community Foundation such as the Transfer of Wealth study in 2025.

5-9 – Here are some high-level takeaways that you can use to remind policy makers, elected officials, and even donors that Idaho runs on nonprofits.

• 2,011. The number of financially active charitable nonprofits based in Idaho (Note: financially active means they reported greater than $1 in their latest 990 IRS filing)
• 79,698. The number of Idahoans directly employed by nonprofits in Idaho.
• 4th largest. Idaho’s nonprofit sector is the 4th largest private sector employer by industry, employing more Idahoans than Manufacturing, Construction, and Agriculture. Who knew?!
• $6.5 billion. Nonprofits’ economic contribution to Idaho’s Gross State Product. This represents about 6%+ of the total economy in Idaho. If nonprofits were to disappear overnight, the state would instantly be plunged into a deep economic recession.
• 25%. The number of nonprofits in Idaho that report being well-positioned with financial resources (i.e. funding) to meet the full commitments of their mission. Put another way: demand on nonprofit services in Idaho is far outpacing the ability to fund and run those services.

10 – I wanted to provide a shoutout to the INC nonprofit members who recently helped us on our legislative visits.

• United Way of SE Idaho addressed access to affordable childcare when we met with Senator Guthrie (SE Idaho)
• NeighborWorks Boise shared about current and future affordable housing project when we sat down with Senator Bernt (Meridian)
• Metro Meals on Wheels helped us illustrate the importance of budget appropriations that nonprofits receive through state and federal dollars to deliver essential community services when we talked with Rep. Petzke (Meridian) 

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Idaho really does run on nonprofits.

*inspired by Tim O'Malley's work. Go Notre Dame!

​​Kevin Bailey, VP of Impact

​​Kevin joined the Idaho Nonprofit Center in July of 2021 after previously serving as CEO of the United Way of Southeastern Idaho. In his free time, he and his family love exploring the great beauty in the West by hiking, biking, and getting outside into nature. On Saturdays in the fall, you can find Kevin avidly cheering on his Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team!