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No, being a nonprofit doesn’t mean that the organization can’t “make” money.

And it certainly doesn’t mean that they don’t need money.

In fact, these organizations—from the Alzheimer’s Association to Warm Springs Community Action Team—probably need your money more than any for-profit company because what they are “selling” and what they are “manufacturing” is not something that they can put on a shelf at the local Fred Meyer. Rather, they offer good will and good deeds—whether it is in the form of providing shelter for the homeless, or offering art classes for rural elementary schools.

In fact, nonprofits are so important to the proper functioning of a community—and to delivering services that the private sector often doesn’t provide—that the IRS has created a special tax designation that, by and large, excludes these organizations from paying taxes on their “revenue”—and encourages individuals to give money to these organizations by providing tax breaks. It is the federal governments way of saying, “Aw, c’mon, buddy, spare a dime!”

There are dozens of important nonprofits in Central Oregon, small and big organizations that do a lot of important work—providing outdoor opportunities for our youth, protecting our environment and bird-dogging our transportation policies. In this year’s Give Guide, we profile several of those organizations—and, in particular, we introduce you to five people, each involved in a different capacity with a specific nonprofit.

We hope that introducing you to the individual jobs that make up nonprofits—board member, executive director, development director, program director and the volunteer—you will better understand the structure that holds together nonprofits, and all the hard work that goes into making them do all their good work for Central Oregon.

Read about Bend’s Nonprofit All-Stars HERE.

This article appears in Nov 21-27, 2013.