If policymakers in Congress and Washington, D.C., want to keep the economy stable amid an unprecedented public health crisis, they must consider the nonprofit sector. While nonprofit groups everywhere provide healthcare, disaster relief, education, housing, nutrition, and religious services, all of which become more important in a major crisis, such organizations also make important economic contributions as businesses. To help nonprofit organizations like the ones we lead, the District government and the federal government should consider outright payroll help for human service organizations coupled with broader measures to benefit the sector as a whole.

Nationally, nonprofit organizations provide a bit more than 10% of all private-sector jobs — more than agriculture or manufacturing. In Washington, nonprofit groups make up more than a quarter of all employment, a larger percentage than any state. This comprises nearly half of the city’s private-sector labor force and represents more jobs than all employers in Wards 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8 combined.