Nonprofit Sector's Importance to Texas

The Texas nonprofit sector is comprised of nonprofits, faith-based groups and community organizations.  While these programs share a not-for-profit status, they also share much more—a social mission.  These groups may approach different issues in their communities, but they all work to help society through reducing the root causes and immediate effects of social problems.

The nonprofit sector is a major economic force in Texas.  Nonprofits employ six times as many Texans as the State's oil and gas extraction industry, and twice as many workers as the real estate and leasing industry.  According to the "Texas Nonprofit Employment Update," nonprofits employ 20% more people than the entire State government, and earn $12.5 billion in wages (more than the State government's total payroll).

While nonprofits employ 4.1% of the total Texas workforce, the national average for nonprofit employment is 7.2% of the United States workforce.  Can you imagine the positive effect that Texas communities and citizens could experience if the nonprofit sector strengthened and grew?