They’re not the rich and famous. They don’t run for office, preside over boardrooms, walk the halls of power. In a society seduced by celebrity and status … they have neither. Their capital isn’t financial, but social. Their profit comes not from the thing they sell, but from the good they do.

They are our nation’s nonprofits. The United States has more than 1.5 million nonprofits — from homeless shelters, food banks and rescue squads to children’s choirs, science museums and animal refuges — that employ one out of every 10 Americans. Like any company, nonprofits have salaries and bills to pay, a budget to balance. They require money. And if enough people don’t know about them, don’t believe in them, don’t support them — in short, if they lack BUZZ — they suffer and die.

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