In this season of giving, it is easy for us to drop a few coins in a bell-ringer's bucket, to write an extra check to our favorite charity to take advantage of year-end tax deductions and to collect a few extra toys for poor children.

We are a community of givers, of people who reach deeply into our pockets to help those less fortunate than us. While the big-name philanthropists grab headlines and set amazing examples of generosity, they certainly are not alone. Every one of us - as an individual and as a business leader - can make a difference.

Without Fujimatsu and Sadako Moriguchi and their family - owners of Uwajimaya Inc. - Seattle's International District wouldn't enjoy the rich cultural and social service programs that serve its residents. Without Columbia Bank employees, poor children in the Sumner School District wouldn't have a center to go to for the services they need.

Without the Tacoma law firm of McGavick Graves P.S. - which donates 10 percent of its annual profits to charities each year - organizations like the World Association for Children and Parents wouldn't have been able to set up a program to find adoptive families for abused and neglected children lingering in the state's foster care system.

Without individuals who give so much - and the nonprofit organizations they support - our community would not be what it is today. Imagine what we would look like without the nearly 50,000 nonprofits that play a significant role in our state's economy.

• They have received more than $13 billion in annual contributions
• They pay at least $6 billion in annual wages
• They manage $53 billion in assets and more than $30 billion in program service revenue, according to a report by the Executive Alliance in King County

Northwest grant makers (including the largest local foundations), gave 43 percent to international and foreign affairs, 17 percent to human services, 7 percent to health, 7 percent to public/society benefits and 6 percent to arts, culture and the humanities. If you take out the large foundations, grant makers gave 28 percent to human services, 23 percent to education, 15 percent to benefit the public and society, 12 percent to health organizations, 11 percent to arts and culture, and 6 percent to the environment, according to a 2005 study by Philanthropy Northwest.

According to that same study, we are seeing a major change in the way people are giving: rather than giving later in life, people are giving throughout life; we are seeing more diversity in donors, broadening the list beyond the white male leaders who dominated in the past; and donors are evolving from donating only to the communities where they live. They are now trying to address systemic global problems. And rather than just "doing good," donors are working to assess the impact their gifts will have.

This impact is major. Look at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation attacking diseases - fixable problems - in developing countries. Donors are realizing that if they get behind movements that can solve problems, some of these horrible issues truly can be fixed. United Way of King County, for example, is focused on getting every child ready for school and ending homelessness. Again - fixable problems in our own community that we in the nonprofit sector are addressing.

I encourage corporations, small businesses and individuals to look at where their passion is. Consider where your contribution can make an impact, and look where your gift - combined with the gifts of others - can create a critical mass that will bring about societal change. This will take more than money. It will take a cultural shift.

But consider what we've done so far. We have created a culture in this community where bicycle helmets are the norm. Across America, MADD (founded in 1980 as Mothers Against Drunk Driving) has created a culture where driving drunk is not OK. Why can't we create a world where dying from a treatable disease is not acceptable - or where nurturing children so they enter school ready to learn is a given?  

Nonprofit organizations are a critical third arm in this economy. We who support these nonprofits are already doing so much. In 2004, nearly one-third of Washington taxpayers filed itemized returns indicating they had donated money to charity. We can do more. If all 2.8 million taxpayers gave $100 more to charity, that would raise $280 million. With that additional money, 80 percent of the state's 28,500 homeless families with elementary school children in 10 of the state's largest counties would receive specialized schooling and programs for six years. Or, it could feed 412,000 people with AIDS/HIV for a year or provide health insurance for 147,000 of them. On a global scale, that money could provide bed nets to protect 60 million of the most vulnerable mothers and children from malaria in sub-Saharan east Africa.

As business leaders, each of you has the power to change this world. Individually, we can make a real difference. Together, we can significantly improve our communities and this world for everyone.