Sweet Charities

The economy might be sputtering and gasping for breath as it recovers, but it seems the number of charities and private foundations is growing, according to The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

There was a 4.3 percent growth in the number of charities registered with the Internal Revenue Service between 2008 and 2009 — a total of more than 1.23 million organizations in all as compared to 1.18 million the previous year. That's a lot of good will going on.

And other good news is that, although last year's growth rate dipped slightly from 5.2 percent posted during the previous year, it's a trend that has been fairly steady and consistent since at least 2003.

Last week, as reported on Tonic, President Obama jolted the newswires when word spread he was donating the $1.4 million proceeds from his Nobel peace prize to ten different charities and he certainly placed those particular charities squarely in the spotlight. From Fisher House, a national nonprofit providing housing for families of military veteran medical patients, to the Posse Foundation, that awards leadership scholarships to promising public high school students who might otherwise be overlooked by the traditional college selection process, they undoubtedly deserved the validation for the worthwhile work they do. But it's also important to remember that most nonprofit organizations deserve the same public recognition and are often working in obscurity and always with challenges.

The fact that the number of charities and foundations is increasing is a testament to the wide ranging needs they fulfill, whether assisting the homeless into permanent — and affordable — housing to supporting youth sports in urban areas, there's plenty of good works to be done. And make no mistake, they may not be a business, but these civic-minded and philanthropic organizations are making their own invaluable contribution to supporting the economy, too.

Photo by HowardLake via Flickr.