Study
Shows Southern California Nonprofits
Are $34 Billion Industry
February 18, 2005
Event: Tuesday, February
22, 2005, 1:30 - 3:30 pm
Los Angeles Central Library, S. Mark Taper Auditorium
Free; RSVP to Ingrid Lopez at (213) 623-7080 ext. 29
What would you do if you had $34 billion
to spend on the common good in Southern California?
How much would you spend on health services? On education?
The poor and vulnerable? Artistic and cultural expression?
What segments of the nonprofit sector in Southern California
have the most power, in terms of people and resources? How
much leverage could be gained by consolidating the multitude
of smaller and community-based nonprofits into fewer, larger
organizations? What would we lose by doing that?
These are not mere hypothetical questions.
Nonprofit leaders, donors, public officials and policy makers
must constantly ask themselves whether they are doing the
best they can for the communities they serve. Journalists
reporting on nonprofit organizations need information about
how each fits with the needs of the community and compares
to other similar organizations. Without accurate information
about such things as the number of nonprofits in a given service
field or locale and the amount of resources they control,
efforts to increase efficiencies, to “do more with less”
(the perennial charge of the nonprofit sector) involve a lot
of guesswork and may be based on faulty assumptions.
On Tuesday, February 22, the
Center for Nonprofit Management, based in Los Angeles, and
the Gianneschi Center for Nonprofit Research at California
State University, Fullerton, will release a report, Southern
California’s Nonprofit Sector, to answer more of these
questions.
This report focuses on public charities in
the 10 Southern California counties: Los Angeles, Orange,
Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura,
San Luis Obispo, Imperial and Kern.
The 10 counties that comprise the Southern
California region are home to nearly two-thirds of the state’s
population and more than half of its reporting 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organizations. According to the report,
• 13,370 Southern California 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations
reported gross receipts of more than $25,000 in 2000 (referred
to as “financially active”).
• These 13,370 Southern California nonprofits reported
total revenue of $38 billion and assets of $62 billion. This
represents per capita revenues of $1,843 for all Southern
California residents.
• Southern California nonprofits reported paying over
$13 billion in wages, benefits and personnel expenses.
• $11.2 billion, or about 30 percent of reported Southern
California nonprofit revenue came from contributions, gifts
and grants.
• $22.6 billion, or about 60 percent of reported Southern
California nonprofit revenue came earned revenue from program
services.
• Large organizations controlled the lion’s share
of revenue, and health organizations dominated the sector:
133 hospitals reported over $12 billion in total revenues,
over one-third of the revenues reported by all Southern California
nonprofits.
• 133 hospitals and 66 universities reported $15 billion
in revenue, or approximately 40 percent of Southern California
nonprofit revenues.
• Excluding hospitals and universities because of their
extraordinary budget sizes, 13,171 Southern California nonprofits
reported per capita revenues of $1,098.
The purpose of the study is to help nonprofit
leaders, donors and policy-makers to allocate resources to
help Southern California communities. It can help show where
services are needed and where they can potentially be consolidated.
A copy of the complete report on disk may be
purchased on a disk for $20 from the Center for Nonprofit
Management. (Free electronic copies can be made available
to journalists – contact us for more information).
Additional information will be posted on the following Web
sites:
• www.cnmsocal.org
• www.fullerton.edu/GCNR
Contacts: |
Peter Manzo
Center for Nonprofit Management
(213) 623-7080 ext. 19
pmanzo@cnmsocal.org
Kathleen Costello
Gianneschi Center for Nonprofit Research
Cal State Fullerton
657-278-5376
kcostello@fullerton.edu |
«
back to News Front
|