-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Nonprofit organizations are a critical component of community life, a convenient and fulfilling way to meet community needs and a crucial prerequisite of a true "civil society." Nonprofits in California and across the country help to define rights such as freedom of religion, expression, assembly and petitioning government. They also provide critical safety-net services for people in need; cultural and intellectual explorations for the larger society; and defense of both unpopular and widely-held beliefs.
The nonprofit sector can be understood as existing at the crossroads between religion, state and business; between the public and private spheres; and between the individual and the collective. Nonprofits embrace all these seemingly contradictory elements: They are major advancers of individual rights, but they frequently act on a democratic, grassroots level. They are privately run but largely publicly funded. And though we think of them as private institutions, they are considered public benefit corporations and must demonstrate that they advance the public good.
Click here for a breakdown of California nonprofits by sub-sector, including the assets, expenses and income of each sub-sector.
According to the California Secretary of State, there are 135,479 nonprofit organizations in California, including 59,110 public benefit organizations; 26,796 religious organizations; and 45,681 mutual benefit organizations. In 1998, 26,272 California public benefit organizations (i.e., 501(c)(3) nonprofits) filed Form 990, the nonprofit tax return required of nonprofits earning $25,000 or more a year.
There are 5,101 private foundations in California with assets of more than $40 billion.
The major source of financial support for 501(c)(3) organizations in the United States is fees, service charges and other earned income -- 54% of the sector's income is generated this way. The second largest source, at 36%, is government funding, followed by private giving from individuals and foundations (10%). Click here for a snapshot of financial data across the California nonprofit sector.
In 1998, California nonprofits had assets of $107.7 billion, expenses of $60.7 billion and a combined income of $66.7 billion. However, despite these big numbers, the vast majority of nonprofits are actually quite small: More than 71% of the sector has incomes under $500,000 per year.
In 1998, California nonprofits employed 750,000 people (about 5% of the state's workforce).
Nonprofit organizations exist in every county of California: in urban, suburban and rural areas, in coastal and inland areas, and in deserts, mountains, coastline and everywhere in-between. Click here for a table showing a county-by-county breakdown of exempt organizations, public charities, private foundations, other 501(c)(3) organizations and other exempt organizations.
According to the 2005 Compensation & Benefits Survey of Southern & Central California Nonprofit Organizations (Center for Nonprofit Management, 2005), the average executive salary in southern and central California is $103,793, and the median is $91,998.
However, the figure varies widely depending on the organization's budget and staff size, field of service and geographic location. For example, the average salary for the director of a social services organization with one major program is $80,433 compared to $131,422 for the head of a foundation or philanthropic organization. Similarly, the CEO of an organization with 1-9 employees earns, on average, $72,896 compared to $139,366 for the head of an organization with 200 or more employees.
A comparable 2003 report for northern California (published by the now-defunct Management Center) shows that region's nonprofit executive salaries at a lower level: The overall average is $93,544, with the far north average coming in at just $50,506.
In any case, nonprofit executive salaries at any level pale in comparison to the salaries earned by CEOs in our nation's corporate sector. According to a Corporate Library report cited by the AFL-CIO, in 2005, CEOs of S&P 200 companies earned an average compensation of $13.51 million.
Submit it here.
