Nonprofits have established themselves as an important economic force in the Flathead Valley.

From social work to conservationist groups, any number of causes are represented locally — with hundreds of employees, 

For Nurturing Center Executive Director Eileen Donahue, these nonprofits give her motivation.

“The nonprofit arena benefits not only our whole area, by filling gaps and holes, but also by contributing to our ultimate well-being,” she said. 

Her role is to lead the Nurturing Center, an organization that attempts to provide educational programs to children and allow parents to raise healthy children. The center can offer guidance in child-care costs, healthy meal guidance and mentoring.

Donahue also on the steering committee for the Flathead Nonprofit Development Partnership.

The partnership, celebrating 10 years of collaboration with Flathead Valley Community College and local nonprofits, seeks to improve networking and efficacy of nonprofit organizations.

“It helps me develop a work force that is effective and professional,” Donahue said. “And the best part is that it’s right here. It’s not in Billings or Helena. It’s accessible.”

Donahue, who bounced around as a child from North Dakota to Montana to Wyoming and eventually down to Colorado, initially went to school for early childhood education. 

After some deep introspection, she switched her major to accounting so she could provide for her burgeoning family. Now, at 58 with five children and soon to be nine grandchildren, she has moved back to the realm of public good.

“We have to make a difference in the world,” she said. “It’s part of what makes us human.”

For five years Donahue has been executive director of the Nurturing Center, providing services to young families and child-care providers.

“The biggest misconception I have to deal with is that we are here for parents who don’t know how to do it,” she said. “But in fact it is for parents who do have an idea. We provide strategies and deeper tools for dealing with their children.”

The parent of a “strong-willed” boy herself, Donahue said she wishes she had an organization such as the center to give her a little guidance when she was raising her children.

When not at the Nurturing Center, Donahue and a group of like-minded nonprofit organizers run the Flathead Nonprofit Development Partnership, a group that organizes more than 10 percent of all employees in Flathead County. The partnership also works in Lincoln, Sanders and Lake counties.

Chany Ockert, coordinator with the partnership, helps the 449 nonprofits of the Flathead Valley. Of these, 100 are churches voluntarily joining to be more efficient in managing funds and personnel.

“We want to make sure all those dollars are used efficiently,” she said. “And with [Flathead Valley Community College] as a partner, it allows us to be robust.”

With the college providing education for nonprofit employees, staffers get valuable training to become more effective. 

Nonprofits in Flathead County make up 3.6 percent of all wage-paying businesses and employ 4.4 percent of all Flathead residents. More than 12 percent of all wages paid in the county come from nonprofits. The Flathead is home to 177 nonprofits with more than $25,000 in receipts, more than Butte or Great Falls and almost as many as than Helena.

For Donahue, the network provided by the partnership helps spur economic growth and prevent clashing between nonprofits. Missoula, Billings and Bozeman also have networks to weave together the hundreds of organizations in the respective cities.

But she does feel that some people get into the realm of nonprofits for lack of a better option. This makes the whole thing less effective, Donahue said.

“I think people fall into nonprofits by default,” she said. “We need to broaden their perspective. [The partnership] offers ways to talk about their role.”

For her personal role, at the Nurturing Center, the parent and child interaction she sees daily is what keeps her motivated, assisted by her nurturing beginnings.

“I had a father who was progressive in many ways and had a deep respect for the process of learning in childhood and the dignity of the family,” Donahue said. “I still love seeing the light in a child’s eyes, how interested in life they are. I have hope in the future.”

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.