Websites, religion, and social service.

Hi again everyone. So last week was a huge learning experience for me again in class. The entire class went to the library and there we learned about all the websites that are great links to nonprofit organizations. It is amazing to me, even after learning of the magnitude of the sector, that there are entire websites devoted to this whole sector. I probably could find anything I ever wanted to know about any nonprofit that interested me and even read there IRS 990 forms. I’m actually really looking forward to using these websites more in depth in our first assignment, coming up here in the next week. So that was class and reading was a whole other learning experience this week. The first chapter I read was about religion and its’ role in the nonprofit sector. Now I am going to be completely honest, I was kind of shocked to learn that religious organizations, churches, synagogues, temples, congregations, were all a part of the nonprofit sector. I would have always assumed that they were there own separate thing all together and not only that they are the largest part of the sector! Now one thing I do disagree with is that religious organizations do not have to register or file reports/paperwork with the IRS. My question is why not? Are they not a part of the nonprofit sector? And don’t a majority, if not all, of nonprofits have to register or file reports? Now I might learn this I continue further in the class but I just do not understand why this is. Anyways, I was also kind of shocked to learn that $85 billion dollars was approximately estimated to the given to religion, through donations, in 2000. This really made me think about how that number today is significantly higher and how religion really does have such an impact on the lives of so many and even though America does not try to make a big deal about religion, it is still one thing, especially through this sector, that keeps this country the they it is. My favorite part of the reading was reading about how much of a societal impact religion has. Now there was a lot that I wanted to disagree with, but I had to agree with. There were also things that if I had the power to change I would. For example, how much religion does play a huge role in politics, education and activism. Overall I think religion almost plays too big of a role in the nonprofit sector. Now that may be a biased response just based on my own beliefs but I think that it has more power and uses it to its’ full extent. I also read about the nonprofit sector in relation to social services. There was a quote in the book that said that nonprofit social service agencies are generally small and this kind of caught me a little off guard. I personally see this aspect of the sector as having the largest impact and being the biggest but I guess I was wrong. When I think of social service agencies, like Red-Cross, Meals on Wheels, the YMCA, I think of those to be huge agencies that help so many and effect so much of American society that it was interesting to learn, that they might not be as big as they appear to be. I think this truly is the greatest aspect of the nonprofit sector and the aspect I am really interested in and want to get to know more about. This is a continuing to be a huge learning experience that will only continue to grow. So, so long for now and see you talk to you all in a couple of weeks.