doers

"it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labour, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom. ... Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. ... For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. ...The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified."

President Barack Hussein Obama, Inauguration Address, January 20, 2009

Key findings about the contributions Canada's nonprofit organizations from Imagine Canada:

• Canada’s nonprofit and voluntary sector is the 2nd largest in the world; the Netherlands is the largest; the United States is the 5th
• there are an estimated 161,000 nonprofits and charities in Canada
• half of these (54%) are run entirely by volunteers
• 2 million people are employed by these organizations representing 11.1% of the economically active population
• the sector represents $79.1 billion or 7.8% of the GDP (larger than the automotive or manufacturing industries)
• smaller provinces have a higher number of organizations relative to their populations
• the top 1% of organizations command 60% of all revenues