Like most businesses, nonprofits typically measure their success in numbers. How many clients do they serve? How many pounds of food do they move? How many volunteer hours do they log?

And yet, the real impact is far greater than what can be measured in mere numbers.

Consider the Renton Kiwanis Clothes Bank. For grant purposes, they report the number of families they serve. And it’s impressive – 300 to 400 families a month.

But dig deeper and you’ll hear stories of men and women able to find professional clothes needed for a job interview, thereby giving them a fighting chance at lifting themselves out of poverty. Children are given clean socks and underwear, or clothes without rips and tears, lifting their spirits and allowing them to fit in with their peers at school.

Consider the Renton History Museum. They might measure their success by the number of individuals who visit the museum each year. Or perhaps by the number of new exhibits they stage.

But their real impact is the stories they tell about Renton’s past and how that might impact our future. They collect, catalog and preserve our memories and then feed that information back to us in the form of visual images, allowing us to relive and remember where we came from, so that we might know where we’re going.

Consider Communities In Schools of Renton, which I’m sure counts the number of children who pass through the hands of their community liaisons and mentors and whether those children graduate.

But the way in which they change lives is dramatic, because instead of dropping out of school and struggling to get by for the rest of their lives, these kids graduate. Many go on to college, giving them the tools with which to create a bright and productive future.

Consider Birthday Dreams. They have provided more than 2,900 birthday parties for homeless kids in just the past few years.

But their story isn’t in the number; it’s in the smiles on children’s faces whose lives have been uprooted. Kids impacted this way feel different than all of their friends. Sometimes, something as simple as a birthday party can make them feel normal again.

Consider Renton Area Youth & Family Services. They also count the number of young people they help with alcohol and drug counseling.

But the difference they make is sometimes between darkness and light. The RAYS staff can bring a child back from the brink of suicide or addiction to a path that leads them forward, thereby impacting not only the child but the family that fears they might lose that child.

Consider Salvation Army Renton Rotary Food Bank or St. Vincent de Paul/Renton. Both provide food to lower income people.

While it’s worthy to count the number of families they serve, and/or the number of pounds of food they hand out, it doesn’t begin to measure the important service they provide. They reduce the stress of not knowing where the next meal will come from, and frankly, keep people alive.

Now, consider the many arts organizations that not only provide an outlet for people’s creative sides, but entertain and inspire the rest of us to live a richer, fuller life. Consider Vision House and the Way Back Inn, who provide transitional housing to homeless families, thereby giving them the chance to get their lives back on track. And finally, consider the Budkis Fund, which provides financial support to seniors faced with huge veterinary bills, sometimes forcing them to make a decision as to whether to give up their only living companion.

Gov. Inslee has declared April 2015 as “Nonprofit Impact” month.

The nonprofits that serve Renton are far too many to name here, as is the power of the services they provide. Suffice it to say, that measuring their impact by the numbers does little to tell their story.

Their story is told in the faces of the people impacted by their goodness.

Remember that the next time you’re asked to make a donation of time, talent, or treasure.