Orange County’s largest nonprofits held their own in the past year in what’s been a tough time for giving, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
The 60 largest nonprofits here saw yearly revenue of $822 million, down 0.9%—or largely flat—from a year earlier.
Figures for most nonprofits are for the 12 months through June, although some are for other periods, including 2008.
Big gains at some services and education nonprofits helped offset declines at others, including arts groups.
The Business Journal’s list is expanded this year to include education and arts nonprofits. In prior years, the list focused just on nonprofits providing services to the poor, hungry, disabled, sick or otherwise needy.
The change brought several newcomers to the list. But the majority of newcomers were services nonprofits that were discovered this year.
They include No. 2 Giving Children Hope of Buena Park and No. 37 Free Wheelchair Mission of Irvine, which both provide medical equipment to developing countries.
Some of the arts and education newcomers include No. 4 Orange County Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa and No. 15 Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana.
The trend of the past year or so has been for donors to give less and prioritize their donations, giving primarily to services groups.
That showed among the arts groups.
The Performing Arts Center saw revenue fall 30% to $40 million. No. 26 South Coast Repertory, a theater company in Costa Mesa, saw revenue decline 11% to $9.3 million.
No. 1
Santa Ana-based Goodwill of Orange County again topped the list as it has for years, with $78.7 million in revenue for 2008, up 2%.
Goodwill leads the list with revenue from its thrift stores. It also runs an electronic waste recycling program for business and consumers.
The nonprofit’s operations support jobs and job training for disabled people.
Goodwill’s revenue was about $25 million more than that of Giving Children Hope, which ranked No. 2 with $53.7 million in revenue for the 12 months through June, up 57% from a year earlier.
Giving Children Hope distributes surplus medical supplies around the world and runs a local program providing food to needy kids.
Founded by John Ditty in 1993, Giving Children Hope receives used medical equipment from hospitals and other healthcare providers.
Education nonprofits Think Together and Discovery Science Center, both of Santa Ana, saw big gains in revenue.
No. 3 Think Together’s revenue rose 37% to $40 million in the 12 months through June.
No. 15 Santa Ana-based Discovery Science Center saw an 80% boost to $17.3 million for the 12 months through June.
The center received a land grant from the city for a parking lot, according to Kelly George, spokeswoman for the nonprofit.
It also received grants for new exhibits, including one on recycling, a rocket display and a hockey exhibit funded largely by Anaheim Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli.
Nonprofits that saw declines include No. 52 Susan G. Komen for the Cure of Orange County in Costa Mesa. Komen OC, one of national breast cancer group’s top fundraisers, was down 13% to $4.4 million for the 12 months through March.
The decline was due to the economy and a larger pullback in giving, said Lisa Wolter, executive director. The group also had a donation of $600,000 the prior year, she said.
Those kinds of donations don’t come along too often, Wolter said.
“They’re wonderful, and they’re rare,” she said.
Fundraising at Komen’s annual Race for the Cure in September was down by $300,000 to $2.8 million, mostly because of the falloff in corporate and individual sponsorship, according to Wolter.
Komen is hoping the recent controversy over new guidelines for mammograms will spur donations.
The advice earlier this month from the federal Preventive Services Task Force—that most women don’t need mammograms before age 50—isn’t being adopted by Komen, which recommends screening at 40.
“We’ve had hundreds of calls and a lot of people expressing their outrage,” Wolter said.
Many nonprofits have scaled back annual galas and lowered ticket prices. Some also added fundraisers to boost revenue to try to meet added demand for their services, which have surged with the downturn.
No. 14 Irvine-based Orange County United Way, which funds other nonprofits, added a Bridge the Gap fundraiser to help nonprofits such as No. 39 Costa Mesa-based Share Our Selves meet demand.
No. 12 Irvine-based Orange County Community Foundation, which works with wealthy donors to set up giving plans, also stepped up with a Seed the Need fundraiser.
The fundraiser was meant to help raise money for safety-net nonprofits that meet the immediate needs of poor people.
Still, both of those groups saw revenue decline. United Way’s fell 25% to $18 million, with less giving from employees through paychecks. Orange County Community Foundation saw revenue fall 43% to $21 million.
Giving might be picking up if fundraising in recent months is any measure.
Costa Mesa-based Serving People in Need, which didn’t make our list, recently held its annual dinner, which raised $214,000. Last year it raised about $120,000. The group helps the homeless and those on the verge of homelessness.
