Newsroom
In the news: How nonprofits build our economy
by RaeAnne Marsh, InBusiness PHX
March 1, 2022
“Based on Arizona and U.S. national statistics on impact of the nonprofit sector, it’s very clear that it is an economic driver in terms of workforce development generating economic potential,” says Richard Tollefson, founder and president of The Phoenix Philanthropy Group.
In fact, David Martinez III, director of community engagement at Vitalyst Health Foundation, calls it “an incredible economic impact” as he points to research that puts numbers on the nonprofit sector’s impact: The Lodestar Center at ASU reports the nearly 23,000 nonprofits across the state have more than 171,000 employees and produce more than $8 billion in wages. They also produce more than $31 billion in revenue for Arizona.
“One thing they talk about in terms of economic impact of philanthropy is inflows and outflows of revenue,” says Tollefson, explaining the inflow comes from individuals or institutional donors in other states contributing to the State of Arizona. Sharing, “I believe the nonprofit sector does bring capital to Arizona in terms of investment in our nonprofit organizations,” he points to the $25 million contribution that Valley of the Sun United Way received last year from Amazon co-founder MacKenzie Scott, the largest single donation the organization had ever received. “That was a major inflow of money but also recognition of the importance of the work that nonprofits do in our state and the strong reputation that nonprofits have,” he says.