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Goodwill Repeats Atop List Of Biggest Nonprofit Groups

The 61 largest nonprofit organizations that are based in Orange County or have significant operations here combined for an increase in total revenue for the second-straight year.

The 8.2% increase came to $71 million, putting the total for the organizations on this year’s list at $937.1 million.

The organizations on last year’s list saw a 4.3% increase last year. There was a 0.9% drop in 2009.

Revenue figures for most nonprofits are for the 12 months through June.

About three-quarters of the organizations here saw donations grow, while 17 groups saw a decrease. One saw its revenue stay unchanged.

The nonprofits collectively boosted employment by nearly 500 people, a 7% increase to 7,800. More than half of them added employees, and 16 cut their work force. Nine groups had the same number of staff from a year ago, and five were flat based on Business Journal estimates.

Thousands more volunteers helped out this year than a year ago. The group combined for a 3.7% increase in the number of volunteers, up by 9,400 to more than 265,500 people.

The nonprofits combined to serve a greater audience, as the number of Orange County clients increased by 10.6% to 4.1 million.

No. 1 Santa Ana-based Goodwill of Orange County remained the biggest nonprofit here. It saw revenue grow by 8.8% to $83.9 million during the 12 months through December 2010.

The revenue gains came after Goodwill saw donations dip by 2% in 2009.

Goodwill is the largest employer on the list, with 1,091 employees after a 21% increase in its work force.

No. 3 Think Together in Santa Ana saw its revenue grew by about $8.4 million, or 20%, to $50.8 million.

The group runs after-school programs to assist educationally at-risk youth in low-income areas.

Think Together added about 70 employees over the year, now counting 807 staff members.

A number of organizations that provide affordable housing to needy families saw increases in revenues, employees and clients.

List Debutante

No. 21 Caritas Corp. made its debut on the list with $14.2 million in revenue, for the 12 months through December 2010, up 9% from the year prior.

Caritas owns and operates manufactured home parks, offering affordable housing for lease, Executive Director Tom Mauro said.

“In the fall of 2010, we acquired three properties in Orange County—two in Garden Grove and one in Brea—which is the main reason for the increase in revenues from 2009 to 2010,” Mauro said.

No. 25 Jamboree Housing Corp. in Irvine saw revenue grow by 6.6% to $13.1 million. It served 900 more clients this year, for a total of more than 5,000.

No. 36 Habitat for Humanity of Orange County saw 11% growth in revenue to $7.2 million. Increased donations and acquisition of land helped, according to Executive Director Sharon Ellis.

The Santa Ana-based organization builds houses for families in need.

“We have 169 families living in our Habitat homes, and not one is in foreclosure,” Ellis said. “For every one family we serve, there are probably three to four additional qualifying families.”

The houses go for about $225,000.

“I think people are cautious about how they contribute their resources to organizations,” Ellis said. “What donors want is to know their money is being well used to serve families. We can literally show them where the funds are going.”

On a Roll

Other nonprofits targeting different needs also saw more donations roll in.

No. 9 Council of Orange County Society of St. Vincent de Paul saw its revenue grow by $8.1 million for a total of $34.1 million.

The organization runs the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, as well as providing educational programs and thrift store services.

Increased donations from corporate foundations helped the top line, according to controller Joyce Foley. But part of the increase was due to a change in accounting.

“The previous year was only a nine-month fiscal year,” Foley said. “We changed the fiscal year to June, and that made one year a stump year.”

The council had nearly 11,400 volunteers this year compared to about 9,300 last year, while it cut its work force by 12 people to 57.

Demand also has grown for the organization, as its local clients more than doubled to nearly 598,000.

The food bank is the council’s biggest operation.

“We’re now serving 240,000 people every month after a 42% increase,” said Meredith Fay, assistant director of development overseeing Second Harvest Food Bank.

No. 15 National Christian Foundation in Irvine, which offers financial planning for donors to various charities, had a 22% gain in revenue to nearly $17 million. Its client base rose by a third to 400.

Santa Ana-based Discovery Science Center jumped 11 spots on the list to No. 17. It increased revenue by $7.1 million, a 79% jump to $16 million.

Some nonprofits saw donations decline.

No. 14 Irvine-based Orange County United Way reported a drop of $7.8 million, about 31%, in revenue to $17.8 million.

The drop was largely due to an unusually high figure last year, when the nonprofit got a big lift from a few major donors, according to United Way officials.

The group offers programs for food, shelter and medical care, among other things.


Download the 2011 OC’s 50 LARGEST NONPROFITS list (pdf)

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