A Little Less of the Pie: Economy, Rising Prices, Crimp Charitable Giving

Charity has been a growing part of the national economy. Here are some facts from The Nonprofit Almanac 2008, produced by the Urban Institute:

• Nonprofits account for nearly 10 percent of the nation’s jobs.
• Nonprofits contributed $666 billion to the U.S. economy in 2006.
• Private giving reached $295 billion in 2006, of which $223 billion came from individuals.
• 61.2 million people said they volunteered in 2005.
• Nearly 13 billion hours were volunteered in 2006.
• The estimated wage value of volunteer time was $215.6 billion in 2006.