What is the Year of the Nonprofit?
2026 is the Year of the Nonprofit in Shiawassee County. This campaign is sponsored by the Cook Family Foundation and is being led by a group of nonprofit community leaders to support non-govermental organizations (NGOs) across the county. The goal of this campaign is to educate, inform, and connect people with resources. There are many misconceptions that shape how people view nonprofits. There are many people who simply don’t know who nonprofits are, what they do, whom they serve, and why they matter. The Year of Nonprofit is addressing all those unknowns to help our community fully grasp the importance of nonprofits and to support their work.
Read our press release about the Year of the Nonprofit here.
Listen to the In Focus Interview by Z92.5 The Castle with Rachel Osmer (Cook Family Foundation), Laura Archer (Shiawassee Family YMCA), and Amy Jo Brown (Steam Railroading Institute) about the Year of the Nonprofit below:
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Who are the NGO’s highlighted in the Year of the Nonprofit?
The Cook Family Foundation has 23 nonprofit partners that receive capacity building support throughout the year. Learn about our Nonprofit Capacity Building Partnership here. Nine of those partners are actively participating in the Year of the Nonprofit Campaign to share their organizations’ information directly with the community. Learn more about them:
- The Arc Mid-Michigan – website & how to get involved
- Durand Union Station – website & how to get involved
- Respite Volunteers of Shiawassee – website & how to become a volunteer or donor
- The SafeCenter – website & how to support their work
- Shiawassee Regional Chamber of Commerce – website & how to join or support the Chamber
- The Shiawassee Family YMCA – website and how to get involved as a volunteer or donor
- Shiawassee Humane Society – website & how to donate or become a volunteer
- Steam Railroading Institute – website & how to contribute to the SRI
- Voices for Children Advocacy Center – website & how to donate to Voices for Children
Where are nonprofits making an impact in our community?
Nonprofits permeate the culture of our community. From shows at the Lebowsky Center to survivor work at the SafeCenter to supporting homebound people with Respite Volunteers of Shiawassee, nonprofits are everywhere. Nonprofits fill in the gaps in the community that are being left open. They are your neighbors who are providing urgently needed services, they are your friends who are putting on shows and hosting art classes, and they are your co-workers who are supporting local youth sports.
Learn more about why nonprofits matter and what each of them are doing by visiting their websites, calling them, or even visiting their offices in person. You’ll be surprised to hear that everyone in our community truly benefits from the work nonprofits do.
Why do communities need nonprofit organizations?
Charitable nonprofits embody the best of America. They provide a way for people to work together for the common good, transforming shared beliefs and hopes into action. They give shape to our boldest dreams, highest ideals, and noblest causes. America’s 1.3 million charitable nonprofits feed, heal, shelter, educate, inspire, enlighten, and nurture people of every age, gender, race, and socioeconomic status, from coast to coast, border to border, and beyond. They foster civic engagement and leadership, drive economic growth, and strengthen the fabric of our communities. Every single day.
Every person in the United States benefits from the work of nonprofits in one way or another, whether they realize it or not. It’s easy to see a nonprofit’s mission in action when our families or neighbors are direct beneficiaries—such as when nonprofits provide food for the hungry, life-saving trauma care to someone in a car wreck, or rescue relief to hurricane survivors. It’s harder to recognize the full impact of the indirect benefits nonprofits provide us. For example, the mission of the “friends of the local public library” might be to promote reading, but taxpayers also benefit when the nonprofit raises funds to buy books and equipment.
Nonprofits play a fundamental role in creating more equitable and thriving communities. And nonprofits can do even more by coming together to protect both their legacy and their indispensable role in America’s future. Read more from the National Council of Nonprofits’ campaign for nonprofits.