LITTLE ROCK — A study released by the UALR Center for Nonprofit Organizations, in partnership with the Arkansas Coalition for Excellence, said public charities contributed $13.5 billion to Arkansas's economy in 2010.
The study, named Charity and Prosperity, diagrams nonprofit revenue, employment and the sector's overall contribution to the state's economy from 2006 to 2010, UALR Media Relations Director Angela Parker said in a news release Tuesday afternoon.
Parker said public charities in the state had over $46.3 billion in revenue over the five-year period of the study.
In addition to the revenue contributed to the state's economy, the news release states public charities employed over 93,000 Arkansans, around 6.8 percent of the state's available labor force in 2010.
According to the report, there was a total of 14,368 incorporated nonprofit organizations in the state in 2010. The report states the counties with the greatest number of nonprofits were Pulaski, Benton, Washington and Sebastian Counties.
The report goes on to say that from 2008 to 2010, nonprofits in the state employed an average of 81,122 people per year. Health care and human services employed the majority of those workers.
Parker said UALR's Center for Nonprofit Organizations works to enhance the capacity of the nonprofit sector through an interdisciplinary application of community and university resources.