The purpose of the article is to demonstrate the significance of the activity run by philanthropic organizations in Poland for the benefit of society and the economy in the light of the social welfare of governmental organizations. Verification of hypotheses was conducted using different research methods: regression analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, trend analysis, and comparative analysis. The results did not demonstrate a significant relationship between local governments’ expenditures on grants for philanthropic organizations fulfilling tasks on social welfare and local GDP. Despite the fact that the level of expenditure of public entities on social welfare goes up with the growth of the number of PBOs, as do their costs and revenues, the figures do not depend on each other.