Charities' Value to Economy: $9 Billion

The report also found that about 32,000 volunteers serve on the boards of local nonprofits, and the combined value of their time is at least $7.3 million. Further, if a volunteer spends two hours each week helping a nonprofit organization, the value of that time over one year is about $2,000.

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Viki Betancourt, community outreach manager of the World Bank, said it is important to document in financial terms the impact of charitable contributions. Applying an economic value to nonprofits may increase donations from corporations and wealthy business leaders, who would consider such giving a smart investment, she said.

"I'm a huge believer that you have to know who you're investing in," Betancourt said. "No one goes out and buys a car and doesn't take care of it for five years. So why would you put your money in a nonprofit and not follow it, not know where it's going? You always want to invest your money wisely."

Alan J. Abramson, director of the Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Program at the Aspen Institute, said many organizations struggle with quantifying their value to society and the economy.

"I think what the Roundtable has done is try to face that challenge square-on," Abramson said. "I think some of the interesting material that they've put together has to do with the idea that money spent on nonprofits or by nonprofits may actually save some money down the road."

Bruce Adams, who directs Montgomery County's Office of Community Partnerships, called nonprofits the "invisible sector" and said the report helps argue in "dollars and cents" that nonprofits are valuable to society.

"We've got to have these partners," Adams said. "In many ways, they can be more effective [than the government]. Some of these smaller, emerging ethnic nonprofits are going to learn about emerging problems way faster than someone, no matter how able, who's sitting in a government office building in Rockville. They're right there on the street level with the people in need."

One nonprofit addressing problems at the community level is CentroN¿a, a District-based early childhood education center that serves the area's booming Latino populations. The center's president, Beatriz Otero, said her organization takes pressure off public school systems by preparing children for school and addressing their developmental and language needs early on.

"We know that special education is one of those areas that is the biggest drain in our public-education dollars," Otero said.

Charitable giving has soared in the Washington region in recent years as higher-paying jobs and rising home values have made many residents more affluent.

In 2005, private and community foundations in the area gave more than $655.5 million, a 7.3 percent increase from 2004, according to a study by the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers. Private foundations in the region reported $9.42 billion in assets at the end of 2005, the study found.

Experts said the level of philanthropic giving might rise still, even with the slowing economy and the end of the real estate boom. Area residents are expected to bequeath $2.4 trillion during the next 50 years in what is believed to be the largest transfer of wealth in the region's history, according to a study released last year. Roughly 19 percent of these assets, or about $460 billion, is expected to go to charities.