State employees in San Luis Obispo County contributed 3 percent more to the California State Employees Charitable Campaign last year than they did in 2010, totaling $150,000, according to the United Way of San Luis Obispo County.

Those donations were part of the roughly $6.9 million raised statewide in the campaign during 2011, where state employees can donate to their favorite nonprofit organizations.

The increase in local donations is “really significant” given that the number of local state employees has dropped in recent years, said Horace Morana of the local United Way chapter, which works to educate local employees about the campaign.

While a statistic for the exact number of state employees working in San Luis Obispo County was not immediately available, Morana said 6,116 pledge forms were distributed in 2011, about 100 fewer than in 2010.

San Luis Obispo County had about 9,600 state employees as of January, according to the California Employment Development Department. That’s 200 fewer than in the same month of 2011.

Among other agencies, 7 percent of the 2,945 Cal Poly employees donated, resulting in $44,715 in donations. Of the 1,835 California Men’s Colony employees, 6 percent donated, resulting in a total of $19,200 in donations.

The top recipients of funds in San Luis Obispo County were: the United Way of San Luis Obispo County’s Community Impact Fund Grants and education, income and health programs; shelter programs including the Women’s Shelter Program of San Luis Obispo County and North County Women’s Shelter; and food bank programs such as Atascadero Loaves and Fishes, Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County and Five Cities Meals on Wheels.

Statewide, about 15 percent of all 281,640 employees participated in the campaign in 2011.