When the County of Orange filed bankruptcy in1994 and the flow of County money stopped for a while, guess what industry was the first to face insolvency? Numerous nonprofits in the County quickly began to report that they soon would be unable to meet payroll! United Way actually set up an emergency loan program to provide temporary funding so some of them could keep their doors open, at least a little bit.
The big secret is that many non-profits are really government contractors and rely on government funding for their existence. TV news reported yesterday that Home Boy Industries, a non-profit that according to its web site focuses on gang intervention and re-entry services in the Boyle Heights area of Los Angeles, is facing a financial crisis due to State budget cuts. No, the problem is not the level of charity giving by donors, it is shrinkage of government funding!
In Orange County nonprofits are also feeling the reality of their government funding shrinking or disappearing. A Register report recently focused on a women’s shelter and the crisis it faces when the Legislature and Governor did not just cut funding for such programs, the funding was totally eliminated.
Not only do many nonprofits feed on government funding, in many cases their very existence depends on it. We can expect to see a real shake out of these organizations as government revenues have tanked, and some people think that is long overdue. If you feel differently, get out your checkbook and make or increase your contributions. Otherwise, vaya con Dios!
Thank God someone has written about it!!
good for you!!
yepppppppppp From the lennar foundation, with Ms Dunn, OCBC and Coalition of Community Clinics all are making huge profits off Government money and again in California and in Orange country it is because of the poor hispanic population that they can do it!!!
MOMS, HABLA, Orange country healthcare alliance, CaliforniaKids, Latino Access, OCCCO, ect…..
All of them making a hugh profit from Caloptima, health families,ect…. and they are all the same people, encluding sentors, “MR. Lou Correa”.
Yep its true and us idiots are paying for it!!
Yes there are a lot of Grants sponsors by various layers of government.
These are aimed at differentpolicy objectives, for example the grants the Bush Administration started and Obama has continued giving grants to non-profit church groups to help feed and cloth people rather than funding a government controlled program.
In these times it is no surprise this funding is being cut.