SALISBURY, Md. – Community members and nonprofit organizations gathered Friday for the presentation of a year-long study looking at the economic and community impact of nonprofits on the Lower Shore of Maryland.
The study was presented by a number of nonprofit groups on the lower shore and done in partnership with Maryland Nonprofits and Salisbury University’s BEACON, two organizations that compiled and analyzed the data for Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico and Worcester Counties.
The study found that nonprofits on the Lower Eastern Shore have a total economic impact of over $695 million annually. That impact, according to Erica Joseph, President of the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, is felt in a wide-range of areas.
"It's not just charity when you're making a donation,” said Joseph. “You're actually improving the quality of life here. Because these are jobs, these are valuable services and it's really providing the kind of community that we all want to live in."
According to the study, Lower Shore nonprofits made up 14% of the total wages paid to the region’s economy in 2017.
"While we have had tremendous growth over the last decade in the amount of wages paid in the non-profit sector,” said Pam Gregory, President & CEO of the United Way of the Lower Eastern Shore, “we're still behind the state average. So we still have a ways to go."
One of the challenges found discovered through the findings is the employee turnover at nonprofit organizations. Because nonprofits cannot always pay wages as competitively as the private sector. That constant transition is something Gregory says can hinder the effectiveness of an organization.
To read the study in it’s entirety, click here.