Legal Aid Society of Orange County has flown under the radar for the past 50 years. Now, the Santa Ana-based nonprofit is making a fundraising push and is using a 50th anniversary to kick it off.
The group offers free legal assistance on taxes, small claims court issues, employment, health issues, family problems and other matters to more than 26,000 poor people and seniors in Orange and Los Angeles counties.
Legal Aid plans to use donations generated from its 50th anniversary celebration for new services and add more workers to the 90 or so full- and part-time employees it has at offices in Santa Ana, Anaheim, Compton and Norwalk.
The nonprofit also wants to generate money to create software programs. Legal Aid already offers a program called I-Can E-File, which helps people file taxes for free.
Executive Director Robert Cohen said he hopes to attract donations that will help Legal Aid create software programs that will help people file court pleadings.
Anniversary
This November, the nonprofit plans to host a party to celebrate its achievements of the past 50 years and to help attract money from the 450 or so people that are expected to attend, according to Cohen.
“The 50th anniversary will be a gateway to creating stronger relationships with law firms and other businesses in Orange County,” he said. “We’re trying to show them how far we’ve come and how they can support us.”
Legal Aid has an annual budget of about $6 million that comes from sources such as Legal Services Corp. in Washington, D.C., the San Francisco-based State Bar of California, the Orange County Office on Aging in Santa Ana and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s community development block grant program.
Like many nonprofits, Legal Aid struggles with limited money. It has relied heavily on state and federal grants since its inception in 1958.
“There are so many things that we try to do to support our community. We want to do more but we can’t do it alone,” Cohen said.
This fundraising will be its first attempt to attract donations from OC companies.
Businesses including San Francisco-based Union BanCal Corp.’s Union Bank of California have donated money to Legal Aid in the past. But the group needs more help, said Anna Lisa Biason, director of fund development.
“We’re fortunate to receive funding from our sources but we need to work closer with the private sector for in-kind donations and sponsorships,” Biason said. “Our goal is to let people know we’re here and to let them know that by supporting us their funds are going to a good cause.”
But Legal Aid first needs to educate itself on how to work with local businesses, according to Biason.
“We have to go beyond the traditional nonprofit model and learn how to speak the language of the private sector,” she said.
Legal Aid already has ties to business.
A good chunk of its board members are lawyers from some of the county’s most prominent law firms such Irvine-based Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP, Costa Mesa-based Rutan & Tucker LLP and Santa Ana’s Aitken Aitken & Cohn.
Wendy Peterson, Knobbe Marten’s general counsel, became a board member about three years ago. Since joining, Peterson said its biggest challenge is finding the resources to continue offering free legal help to OC’s poor and elderly.
“Legal Aid really does go out of its way to offer help for people that can’t afford it but it needs support to continue doing that,” Peterson said. “That’s where the anniversary event comes in.”
Planning a 50th anniversary took a lot of consideration, said board member Darren Aitken, a partner at Aitken Aitken & Cohn.
Organizing such a large event is expensive for a nonprofit, he said. But Legal Aid sees it as an opportunity to attract attention and, hopefully, donations, he said.
“Not every nonprofit reaches the 50-year mark,” Aitken said. “Greater awareness will hopefully lead to more participation and support. We’re worth supporting.”
Sponsors
Legal Aid also is courting businesses to help sponsor the event, Cohen said.
So far, Costa Mesa-based Rutan & Tucker, OC’s largest law firm with 157 local attorneys, and Forum Info-Tech, a Corona-based Web site development company, have stepped up.
Rutan & Tucker is paying for the marketing costs associated with the celebration. Forum is building a Web site for the nonprofit, which should launch some time next month.
Board member William Ihrke, an associate at Rutan & Tucker, said support should go beyond the local law firms.
“Private corporate support will be increasingly important to achieve Legal Aid’s goals,” he said.
Giving has its benefits, said Biren Shukla of Forum Info-Tech.
“We’re giving back,” he said, “but it’s also a great opportunity for us to get our name out there too. By getting involved with sponsorships, hopefully we can get our name out and pick up more clients that way.”
