Overall revenue for the 100 largest organizations grew 9.2 percent in 2006, up from 7.6 percent from the year before. However, expenses rose at a slightly faster pace, as they did in 2005. They climbed 9.5 percent in 2006, compared with 7.9 percent in 2005.

Minnesota's 100 largest organizations posted $34.7 billion in revenue and $33.4 billion in expenses in 2006, the most recent year for which comparable figures are available. In 2005, they had revenue of $31.8 billion and expenses of $30.5 billion.

The health care sector dominates the Nonprofit 100. Because of state law and regulatory policies, HMOs and most hospitals in Minnesota are incorporated as nonprofits. As a result, health care nonprofits account for 53 of the top 100 organizations in our survey and 90.5 percent of the revenue.

Altogether, there are more than 3,600 nonprofit employers in the state, according to the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. They employed nearly 270,000 workers in 2006, one in every 10 in the state. The national average is about 7 percent. Nonprofits' jobs -- which include many health care-related occupations -- have been growing at about 3 percent annually since 1997, the council said. That compares with a 1 percent overall job growth rate for the Minnesota economy.

While private-sector hiring has slowed, especially in the manufacturing, housing and construction sectors, "hiring remains very active in the nonprofit sector,'' said Jon Pratt, executive director of the nonprofits council. "The nonprofit economy doesn't feel a recession until a year after the general economy'' because of the year-ahead funding cycle at most nonprofits.