Interesting Fact: Wal-Mart Equals Philanthropy
For those of you looking to add an interesting statistic in your keynote address or cocktail party conversation, some stats I read in a recent New York Times article about Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the world, combined with my sources in the nonprofit sector are quite intriguing.

Wal-Mart (1)
1.4 million employees
$245 billion in sales
$10-14/hour - the average wages and benefits of a full-time worker

Philanthropy
1.4 million nonprofit organizations (2)
$241 billion in total giving (3)
$16.54/hour- the average value of volunteer time (4)

Sources:
1. New York Times, Wal-Mart, Driving Workers and Supermarkets Crazy, October 19, 2003
2. Internal Revenue Service, Exempt Organizations Business Master File (2003)
The Urban Institute, National Center for Charitable Statistics, http://nccsdataweb.urban.org/
3. Giving USA 2003, AAFRC Trust for Philanthropy
4. Independent Sector