Scope of the Community Sector

Consider these facts which describe the Puget Sound area's community sector:

• The community sector is the fastest-growing sector of the nation's economy. Indeed, this sector has been described as "the growth industry of America."3 There were nearly 32,000 community organizations registered in Washington state in 1994. Estimates are that this total is growing by some 1,000 organizations each year. 4
  
  
• One in every 11 U.S. workers is employed in the community sector. 5
  
  
• The average monthly employment in the state's community sector is larger than any single commercial enterprise — that is larger than Boeing (pre-merger with McDonnell-Douglas), or Microsoft, or all the coffee-beaning-milk-steaming espresso purveyors combined. Washington state's community sector employed more than 158,000 workers in 1993. Their annual wages totaled $3.95 billion that year, and they spent another $1.98 billion for non-salary purposes. 6
  
  
• The economic impact of arts organizations alone bears note: According to the Corporate Council for the Arts' 1998 economic impact study, the arts in King County generated $338.2 million in business sales and $170.8 in labor income in 1997, up 62 percent and 54 percent, respectively, from 1992 levels.
  
  

Anyone bemoaning perceived citizen apathy would do well to note the contributions Puget Sound-area citizens are making, largely through their contributions of time and money, to these groups:

• In 1990, more than 80 percent of Puget Sound-area adults were either volunteering or making financial contributions to community causes, or doing both. Some 1.3 million Puget Sound-region adults, or 55 percent, were volunteering. Depending on the task, they volunteered between three and five hours a week. One in seven volunteers contributed more than five hours a week. 7
  
  
• The Corporate Council for the Arts estimated that in 1998 approximately 18,848 individuals were volunteering for King County arts organizations alone. This was a 35 percent increase from 1992.
  
  
• Washingtonians in 1994 gave $1.4 billion in cash donations. Those with incomes above $100,000 gave significantly more than the national average. Those with smaller incomes gave below the national average. 8
  
  
• In 1996, Seattleites reported contributing 2.63 percent of their incomes to not-for-profit groups. The national average was 2.2 percent. 9
  
  
• While individuals are responsible for some 80 percent of the total giving in this country, foundations and corporations contribute significantly as well. Foundation and corporate givers are known as "grantmakers." In 1996, grantmakers gave $177 million in the five-state area of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. Of that amount, $121 million was given in that state of Washington alone.10
  
  

What do all these gifts of time and money make possible?

Plenty! Consider just some of the work performed by organizations that participated in the Good News/Good Deeds study: The Girl Scouts' leadership development programs reached 16,000 girls; Food Life Line distributed 11 million pounds of food through food banks and meal programs; Music Center of the Northwest made it possible for 250 students each semester to perform in classical music ensembles; Seattle Youth Involvement Network brought together 1,000 young people for Seattle Youth Involvement Day; and the Student Conservation Association mobilized 2,300 volunteers to clean up streams, plant grass seed and trees and pick up litter on Earth Day.

Community sector organizations have always felt the need to disseminate the news of their works broadly to our community. They consider news media an important way to make that happen. Conversely, news media have historically prided themselves as the best providers of information on community life to which citizens can turn, day-in and day-out, and in moments of crisis, for a full accounting of facts and perspectives. Moreover, journalists have assumed the responsibility to provide people with the news and information they need to make the decisions they are called upon to make in a self-governing society. Both news media and not-for-profit organizations are rooted in an ethic of public service. Yet, despite their seemingly symbiotic intentions, there exists a Mount Rainier-sized disconnect between these two sets of institutions. That yawning gap denies citizens a more accurate and complete view of community life.

Executive directors of not-for-profit organizations are highly critical of media coverage. As one Seattle grantmaker told Good News/Good Deeds: "Coverage (of philanthropy) in this town is superficial. It's either event- or social-function based, or focused on the fact that in any given organization a pencil might be missing."

It is important to note that no one interviewed by Good News/Good Deeds disputed that news media perform an important public service when they focus on instances of mismanagement or abuse by specific not-for-profits. No one advocated that news media become a pompom section for community sector groups. Rather, community leaders uniformly appealed for inclusion.

"I don't think what we need from the press is necessarily that they be more positive," noted a Seattle foundation executive. "It is more an issue of their being more accurate and fair about things going on in our community. It's about (covering the community) in its entirety." Added another not-for-profit leader: "The media just do not recognize the nonprofit community as being an incredibly important component of the fabric of society."

Not-for-profit leaders expressed a desire for balance in philanthropic coverage that typically is polarized between "feel-good" stories about "nice" people doing "nice" things and stories that illuminate the infrequent high-profile scandal. Such polarities do little to enhance citizens' understanding or appreciation of the essential — and potential — role not-for-profits play in sustaining our region's dynamism. Such reports also fail to illustrate the fascinating interplay between citizens' efforts and those of government and business to create systemic responses to community problems.

Why this situation exists lies at the heart of the Good News/Good Deeds study. Factors influencing both news media and not-for-profits are fostering this disconnect. These factors also hold clues for creating promising connections that can support citizens' information needs and the workings of the community as a whole.