The impact of nonprofits in Southeast Missouri

What comes to mind when you think of charities and nonprofits?

Likely you think of organizations that make a difference in our communities by supporting education through scholarships, by providing health care and social services to residents in need, by bringing cultural experiences to the community, and by offering aid in times of crisis.

In fact, nonprofits impact the very fabric of our lives every day! Consider how these organizations make a difference in your life. When you enjoy the beauty of the city and county parks, you are benefiting from much-needed charitable gifts that enhance these public spaces. When you shop downtown Jackson and Cape Girardeau, you are benefiting from the work of nonprofits focused on the revitalization and economic development of our communities. When you take visitors to historic landmarks throughout the region, you share what has been preserved by the charities dedicated to protecting regional history. And when you or a loved one face an illness and receive care from regional health care providers, the assistance of several nonprofit organizations may provide life-giving support.

The list of examples could go on and on. In a recent conversation with several nonprofit leaders in Southeast Missouri, these professionals brought to light how nonprofits work to support the core needs of our communities in the areas of mental health, education and public safety.

Michelle Ramsey, executive director of the Community Counseling Center Foundation, shared that one in every four lives will be touched by mental illness.

“The Community Counseling Center serves five counties — Cape Girardeau, Bollinger, Madison, Perry, and Ste. Genevieve — and, last year alone, we helped more than 7,500 individuals at times of crisis or through long-term counseling,” she explained. “We make these services accessible in many ways, including funding behavioral health counselors in each of the schools to assist students and their families. Recently we were proud to establish a partnership with the Cape Girardeau Police Department to fund two behavioral health professionals to assist police in responding to situations involving mental health issues.”

In these and many other ways, the Community Counseling Center and other nonprofits, businesses, and public entities with which it partners provide greater strength and increased security throughout our region.

To enhance the educational opportunities available in our communities, many public schools are fortunate to have established charitable foundations with generous private support from gifts, grants, and sponsorships.

“Cape Girardeau Public Schools provide an education to more than 4,200 students from preschool to adult,” explained Amy McDonald, executive director of the Cape Girardeau Public Schools Foundation. “Through our Foundation, private contributions provide direct educational support by funding programs and clubs at all schools, assisting with dual credit tuition for high school students in need, and providing scholarships for our graduates to attend trade schools, community colleges, and universities.”

Because Cape Girardeau Public School District serves many students coming from low-income households, the Foundation also provides many students with essential needs for health and wellness.

“We are also blessed to be able to help when a student’s family experiences a crisis at home by contributing to their immediate welfare until the family can get back on their feet,” McDonald shared.

Southeast Missouri nonprofits are incredibly grateful to receive tremendous support from local sources. Philanthropic support from residents and sponsorships from area businesses are critical to each charity’s mission. But these organizations also bring in funding from outside the region in support of their work.

“We were pleased to be able to have facilitated more than $110,000 from grant-makers outside this region to support the needs of our area communities from 2020-2022,” said Skip Smallwood, chair of the board for the Cape Area Community Foundation. “These funds provided critically important assistance to nonprofits as well as their clientele who were impacted by the pandemic.”

This is just one example, as many other nonprofits rely heavily on grants received from private foundations, the state of Missouri and the federal government.

These grants, in turn, impact the local economy as the nonprofits spend these funds in their own communities. This is part of the indirect economic impact of the nonprofit sector.

In the ordinary course of doing business, nonprofit expenditures generally remain local as these organizations do business with local companies. In addition, nonprofit employees conduct their business locally as well — and there are many nonprofit employees!

According to an online article published by NMBL Strategies, there are 32,000 nonprofits in the state of Missouri alone, which accounted for more than 246,000 jobs in 2020 (10% of all Missouri jobs) and paid more than $10 billion in wages. Narrowing this down further, data from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that 16% of workers in Cape Girardeau County were employed by nonprofit organizations.

Through the expenditures of doing business and the compensation to their employees, nonprofits participate in the cycle of economic growth in the Southeast Missouri region. Adding this economic impact to the good works being accomplished by these charities every day, the true impact of the nonprofit sector is vital to the strength and success of our communities throughout Southeast Missouri.

Southeast Council on Philanthropy (SECOP) is a group of charitable organizations seeking to advance philanthropy through education of our communities throughout Southeast Missouri as well as training and networking for nonprofit staff and volunteers. If you are interested in learning more about SECOP, you can visit secoponline.org and feel free to attend future meetings. Our next meeting will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, April 20, at the Cape Girardeau Public Library.