$9 mil? Not bad.

I know the word "nonprofit" doesn't exactly inspire images of money trees, gold bars and those clear boxes lucky winners step into at casinos to grab flying cash. But the nonprofit sector is definitely an asset to the economy. And, this may or may not come as a surprise, but many of them are doing a better job being economical than the government.

The huge nonprofit sector in Washington, DC is a prime example: It contributes $9.6 million a year to the region's economy - and it uses that money wisely.

The Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington released a study (funded by the World Bank) today that "found that many of the area's 7,614 nonprofits deliver such key services as health care in more cost-efficient ways than the government. Nonprofits also address social problems - including homelessness, hunger, violence and illiteracy - in the early stages, which prevents additional public spending..."

Sounds great in a big-picture sort of way, right? The specifics right from the report are even better:

• Adoptions Together works with the government to place children with families at an annual cost of $7,200 a child. It would cost the state of Maryland about $25,000 a year for each child to remain in the welfare system.


• The Manna Food Center in Montgomery County turns every $1 cash donation into $5 worth of food through volunteer labor and food donations.


• Volunteers with Stop Child Abuse Now in Northern Virginia served as court-appointed special advocates for nearly 200 children last year, saving the state government more than $400,000 in attorneys' fees.


• The District-based Metro TeenAIDS has an annual budget of just over $1 million. The group estimates that its entire budget is justified by preventing just two youths from contracting HIV each year, considering that the average lifetime cost of health care for one person infected with the virus is about $600,000.