PENACOOK:  Before a crowd of more than 1,500 NH voters crammed into a middle school gymnasium in Penacook this Saturday, Senator Hillary Clinton responded to NH Nonprofit leader Joan Goshgarian who asked Clinton about her involvement and ideas for strengthening the sector.

"It is essential that I, as President, do everything I can to expand the nonprofit sector," remarked Clinton. Clinton noted that she looked at the nonprofit sector as one leg of a three-legged stool supporting America, with the legs of the stool being made up of a vibrant corporate America, effective government and the essential nonprofit sector.

Goshgarian is Executive Director of the NH Business Committee for the Arts and board member of the NH Center for Nonprofits (NHCN) which is co-sponsor of the National Nonprofit Primary Project--an initiative focused on educating the candidates about the sector and social and economic impact. Goshgarian pointed out that the nonprofit sector not only addresses a broad spectrum of issues from health care to poverty to preserving the arts and protecting the environment but also is a significant economic force.

"The whole nonprofit sector not only delivers essential services, but is a huge employer," said Clinton. "Close to 10% of people work for the nonprofit sector."

Clinton was just one of the candidates on the campaign traill who was asked by nonprofit leaders this weekend to describe their plans to strengthen the nonprofit sector.  Presidential hopeful Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee was asked about his involvement with nonprofit organizations and his future support of the sector. Stopping by Ceasarios Pizzeria in Manchester Saturday afternoon for an unscheduled lunch break, Governor Huckabee and his wife talked with Mary Ellen Jackson, Executive Director of NHCN, about the nonprofit sector.

"As you know, I have a long history of nonprofit involvement through my work with churches and in my role as Governor of Arkansas.  As President of the United States, there would be a place for the nonprofit sector in my White House," remarked Huckabee.

Huckabee's wife, Janet, mentioned that she served on the national board of Habitat for Humanity and was well aware of the positive impact the nonprofit sector had in America and would "indeed, be very supportive of the nonprofit sector as first lady."

Greeting voters at a rally in Concord Friday morning and at a Democratic event in Milford Friday night , Senator Barak Obama told Nonprofit Primary Project supporter Tom Blonski, President of  NH Catholic Charities and NHCN Director Jackson that his support of the nonprofit sector would be through his proposed Social Investment Fund Network and the creation of the Social Entrepreneur Agency, designed to make sure that small nonprofits have the same kind of support that we give small businesses.

Presidential hopeful Governor Bill Richardson told Blonski at an event on Friday evening in Milford that he, too, "would make room in his White House for the nonprofit sector."

Following the Republican debate on Saturday evening, Presidential Candidate Governor Mitt Romney told National Nonprofit Leader and Primary Project creator, Robert Egger, President of the DC Central Kitchen, who flew to New Hampshire for the final days of the project that if elected President "I will, of course, support the nonprofit sector."

At two Sunday events in Keene, Egger was able to ask presidential candidates Senator John Edwards and Governor Bill Richardson about their support of the nonprofit sector.

Richardson, standing outside on the central common in Keene, told Egger, "I will give nonprofits the respect that they deserve."

Edwards, speaking to a crowd in the Keene High School gym, engaged with Egger for about ten minutes in a dialogue about the needs to strengthen and support the sector.  Edwards remarked, "There needs to be a partnership with the kind of organization (nonprofit organizations) you run and our country.  It is our job as a country to support nonprofits."

The Nonprofit Primary Project is a Candidate Education Initiative of the Nonprofit Congress, which was held in November 2006. More than 400 nonprofit leaders from across the country gathered in Washington to determine shared goals for the sector. The Nonprofit Primary Project  is a national effort to put the needs and impact of the nonprofit sector into the national dialogue. Spearheaded by the Nonprofit Congress and the National Council of Nonprofit Associations, the Nonprofit Primary Project began in New Hampshire.

The NH Center for Nonprofits has launched the project by piloting a series of "living room chat" style sessions with the Presidential Candidates and by having nonprofit leaders across the state attend candidate sessions in their regions where they have asked the same three Primary Project Questions. The Three Nonprofit Primary Questions: 1.) Give us a personal reflection on how you've interacted with a nonprofit or the role that a nonprofit organization has played in your life or career? 2.) How would you strengthen the economic and social capacity of the sector? 3.) How would you partner with us to achieve your vision for America?

The focus of the sessions is on the impact and critical importance of the nonprofit sector. Once the model is developed in New Hampshire, it is hoped to be replicated in other primary states.