N.C. residents give time worth $3.5 billion

May 7, 2008

RALEIGH, N.C. - The value of time North Carolinians volunteer is worth more than three times the dollars the state's foundations give in grants, NCGives says.

About 1.73 million residents of the state volunteered a total of more than 206.4 million hours of their time in 2006, according to an NCGives analysis of data from the Current Population Survey of the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That means about 25.7 percent of the state's population volunteers, a slightly lower rate than in the U.S. overall, with of 26.7 percent of Americans volunteering, NCGives says.

With an hour of volunteer time in North Carolina in 2006 valued at $17.14, as estimated by Independent Sector, North Carolinians contributed more than $3.5 billion to the state's nonprofit sector in 2006.

However, that is likely an underestimate, says NCGives, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics considers only time volunteered with a formal organization.

NCGives, based in Raleigh, works to promote the giving of time, talent and money by women, youth and communities of color.

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