Nonprofits across Wyoming help individuals and families daily. They protect, feed, heal, shelter, educate, and nurture our bodies and spirits while investing significant financial and human resources in our communities. The Wyoming Nonprofit Network produced the Wyoming Nonprofit Sector Report in 2016, which provided a look at the breadth and scope of Wyoming’s nonprofit sector.

Did you know there are approximately 3,000 public charities in Wyoming? The Internal Revenue Service designates public charities as 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. In order to be granted “public charity” status by the IRS, an organization must benefit the broad public interest.

The majority of Wyoming nonprofits are small, 79% with budgets less than $100,000. However, Wyoming nonprofits expenditures still total over $1 billion dollars annually. Salaries and program activities account for the vast majority of these expenditures.

So, who is in charge of a charitable nonprofit? Each nonprofit is governed by a volunteer board of directors whose responsibility is to ensure the structure, programs and resources are in place to hold the organization accountable to its mission and the public it serves. The board is the legal embodiment of the organization. What does this mean for board and staff members? Over the course of the next several months we will answer that question by outlining the specific roles and responsibilities of the board of directors as well as how the Executive Director/CEO role relates to the board’s role.

If you would like to read the Wyoming Nonprofit Sector Report, go to www.wynonprofit.org. Are you a nonprofit board member, staff member, volunteer or partner? Be sure to check out Collective Voices: a Wyoming Nonprofit Symposium which is June 7th and 8th in Sheridan.