Educate. Enrich. Enhance. Engage.

Lately, I have been asked why nonprofits are relevant. Took me back a bit, but once I realized that maybe they aren't relevant, I took a more in depth look.

Let's start with Chambers of Commerce 501c6 Member Organizations.

Are they relevant? In my opinion, YES, they are very relevant.

Why are they relevant? A few reasons:

• They are champions for their members
• They provide services to their members such as additional marketing, networking, business growth, and more
• They provide credibility to their member businesses
• They drive economic growth in their region
• They provide business visibility to their members
• They provide essential business-focused seminars, webinars and meetings based on business growth and sustainability

So, yea...Chambers ARE relevant!

But not all of them, right? If your Chamber does not seem relevant to you, go talk with them. See what they offer their members.

Chambers work diligently to provide all their members something related to business, but not all Chamber are the same. One bad apple does not ruin all the apples! (or something like that).

Take the time to interview your local chamber. Do they align with your own mission? Will they assist your business with development?

Any business can join any Chamber anywhere. No laws against that. Perhaps your business joins more than one Chamber. Good! Where your business does business is where you should join.

501c3 Charitable Organizations

A few reasons why 501c3's are relevant:

• They drive social impact
• They service the community in a myriad of ways from food pantries to pet shelters
• Your donations are tax deductible
• They foster local development
• They are a trusted source for many people in their communities

501c3's include churches and hospitals and museums.

Not all c3's are the same. We all know that. People tend to have apathy when a local charities mission does not apply to them.

Open your minds. Open your hearts. 501c3 organizations work diligently every day to take care of people and pets in our communities. Many of them are made up of just volunteers who donate their time and talents and many times, this volunteer role takes a lot of time.

This is not the time for apathy for our nonprofit organizations! This is the time to ramp up your volunteerism, your donations, whatever you can do to assist with the ongoing support that is needed.

I am a nonprofit nerd so every nonprofit in my opinion is valid unless they give me a reason otherwise. They are not all the same.

Supporting your local nonprofit organizations helps keep your donations local. Your time spent assisting as a volunteer is some of the best time you will spend.

Take the time to investigate and give of your resources the best you can.

Thanks for reading,

Sally