The Roanoke Valley nonprofit community isn’t getting the respect it deserves — and agency officials say they aren’t going to take it anymore.

Tired of their perception as “takers” who always have their hands out, officials from several area agencies gathered Monday morning to prove they are also “givers.”

At a press conference at the Council of Community Services office on Campbell Avenue,  the Nonprofit Resource Center of Western Virginia released a report showing the nonprofit community generates an annual economic impact of at least a $183 million by bringing funding into the region from state and national sources.

Nonprofit leaders heralded the study as critical. They say it proves nonprofits are businesses as well, and should be involved in making economic development decisions for the region.

“We’ve never presented ourselves as a vital partner with business and government — we should have an equal voice,” said Karen Michalski-Karney, executive director of the Blue Ridge Independent Living Center.