The Los Angeles County Arts Commission released the third report in a series exploring workers in arts nonprofits in the region. A significant finding in this release, Volunteers in Nonprofit Arts Organizations in LA County, shows how many people give their time to support the arts across the county. This study utilized data collected by the Cultural Data Project (CDP). Using data collected by the Cultural Data Project (CDP), the study found 35,076 volunteers gave nearly six million hours of labor, and 5,185 volunteer board members also gave their time. This investigation looked at 463 nonprofit arts organizations in LA County and found that 83 percent of them utilized volunteers in 2012.

Both the number of volunteers working for those organizations and the average number of hours worked per volunteer grew by one-third from 2007. Nearly three-quarters of arts nonprofits have more volunteers working for them than paid staff. Arts nonprofits with smaller budgets are more dependent on volunteers than they are on paid staff, but large nonprofits still have many volunteers working for them. The largest share of volunteers can be found in multidisciplinary organizations, while the second largest number is in theaters. The LA County Arts Commission has supported the CDP since 2009.

Read the full report.