The NonProfit Times - November 1, 2008 - (Page 18)

THE 2008 NPT TOP 100 Continued from page 17 The average total revenue for a 2008 NPT 100 organization is $599.43 million, which would rank around No. 27, just one slot down from where it was last year. Approximately 46 percent of the overall total revenue was made up of public support ($27.92 billion). While last year’s NPT 100 organizations totaled $29.1 billion in public support, this year’s group of 100 nonprofits generated a comparable $27.98 billion during 2006, off by 0.21 percent. Despite the start of an economic slowdown last year, the fact that giving to nonprofits seemed flat, but stable, exhibited the sector’s resiliency, said Dan Romano, executive director, tax, northeast higher education and nonprofit practice for Grant Thornton LLP, which helped compile and analyze this year’s data. Organizations continued to grow, albeit at a slower pace than in the past, he said, but they’re still getting donations and generating revenue. On the other side of the ledger, “nobody really cut back on spending,” Romano said, with program expenses remaining relatively even with what was spent the previous year from a percentage standpoint. “They’re not cutting back even if they’re not making the income that they had. Their public support might have gone down, but they’re continuing to spend. They’ll just tap into their endowment.And, Congress is all about tapping into endowments,” Romano said. For the most part,donors are not increasing giving with the economy the way it is, Romano said, but might be giv- ing the same amount they had in prior years. Donors will give to their favorite charities because they use their services, used them in past, or give to their favorite museums, he said. But if it’s a discretionary dollar, Romano added, “they’re going to give it to an organization that is quiet and does good stuff, like The Salvation Army.” If nonprofits can keep expenses to minimal increases while keeping public support stable, they’re likely to stay ahead of the game, and most seemed to do that last year. There weren’t any organizations that “really went out and increased their efforts to raise money,” Romano said. “Everybody pretty much has stayed status quo about what they’re going to spend to raise public support,” he said. “Maybe they had the foresight to realize that people weren’t going to be giving so they invested and did other things with it but there doesn’t seem to be any big pushes as far as campaigns and stuff.” (See “Groups Shaving Expenses With An Eye Toward ROI” on Page 26.) Last year’s No. 1, the American Red Cross (5) fell from the top spot, overtaken by another regular near the top of the list, the YMCA of the USA, which ranked No. 1 two years ago. Revenue at the American Red Cross dropped from $6 billion to $3.1 billion, but the FYE 2007 figure is actually more along the lines of what’s expected each year.The $6 billion last year still included many contributions in response to the Gulf Coast hurricanes in August 2005, since the fiscal year ran from September 2005 to August 2006. A quarter-billion-dollar bequest that was decided by the courts two summers ago made its impact on the NPT 100 this year, contributing to some of the biggest movers on this year’s list.World Wildlife Fund (WWF) made one of the largest jumps this year, going almost 20 slots from No. 89 last year to No. 70 due to the approximately $33-million share of Guy DiStefano’s estate.The Issaquah, Wash., man left his $264-million fortune to eight charities, including others on the 2008 NPT 100:The Salvation Army (3) and Direct Relief International (62). WWF was among several environmental groups that reported revenue surges, along with The Conservation Fund (88), Ducks Unlimited (77),The Nature Conservancy (11),Trust for Public Land (73) and Wildlife Conservation Society (66). (See “Green Is Good” on Page 30.) One of the biggest swings belongs to Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist organization of America. The New York City-based charity was ranked No. 68 in 2007 but this year climbed to No. 46 with an increase of $100 million in total revenue, because of almost $60 million more in public support and a $35-million boost from investment income. It’s the second year in a row that Hadassah has climbed considerably up the top 100, having been at No. 91 just two years ago. The 96-year-old organization has been fundraising for its centennial celebration, which will be celebrated with the dedication of the Sarah Wetsman Davidson Tower at the Hadassah Medical Center during its National Convention in Jerusalem in 2012. Hadassah’s Tower campaign has benefited from record gifts to the organization, garnering $210 million world- How The NPT 100 Was Compiled – Who’s Missing And Why This year’s NPT 100 surveyed hundreds of nonprofits for financial data from the fiscal year ending 2007. For some organizations, that might mean a January-December calendar year while for others it could be any 12-month period ending as early as March or as late as September. The compilation process began in May with a written request for organizations to complete a 112-page Microsoft Excel worksheet, asking for information from about two ⁄ dozen lines from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 990.There also were five questions added this year about governance and policy in anticipation of the revised federal Form 990 coming for FYE 2008 for most charities (See “Governance Becoming Institutionalized” on page 31). A key qualification of The NPT 100 is that nonprofits must receive at least 10 percent of total revenue from public support.The report also aims to avoid double-counting revenue as much as possible.That’s one reason why United Way of America, which usually generates some $4 billion in annual revenue throughout its entire system, is not included since much of its revenue is passed through to other nonprofits. Over the years, the 10-percent rule has excluded some significant nonprofits, like The ARC and Lutheran Services in America, both multibillion-dollar organizations that fall short of the public support qualification. Many hospitals also don’t qualify for that reason, since much of the revenue is attributed to program services, or research organizations that rely heavily on government support. Universities and donor-advised funds are not included in The NPT 100. Also not included are some organizations that are funded primarily by foundations (such as Program for Appropriate Health or RAND Corporation) even though a strict interpretation of their public support (Part I, Line 1a+1b) might actually be 10 percent of total revenue (Line 12). For most calendar-year nonprofits, the Form 990 is due by mid-May. As is the case most years, a few nonprofits did not have the FYE 2007 Form 990 available yet. In those cases, either a FYE 2006 Form 990 was substituted, or some FYE 2007 financial document, such as a consolidated or audited financial statement, served as the basis for completing the worksheet. Whenever possible, the data are taken directly from Form 990s. Since religious organizations are not required to file Form 990s, some data were derived from audited financial statements or a survey of affiliates by national headquarters (Catholic Charities USA). In other cases, where there are multiple entities (City of Hope, Eisenhower Medical Center, Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago), data are consolidated when possible from multiple Form 990s. For national organizations, data are requested system-wide, to include affiliates and chapters and not just the Form 990 for the national office headquarters.The YWCA of the USA -- which in the past has reported revenues of as much as $650 million -- was unable to compile figures on a system-wide basis for FYE 2007 without aggregating multiple years, and did not submit data for the study.The last time the organization submitted data was two years ago, when it had approximately $542 million in total revenue. Some large organizations are able to provide overall data, but have difficulty breaking it out in some categories. For instance, The Salvation Army’s government category includes fees (which The NPT 100 survey asks to exclude) because a large majority of its overall government funding is grants.The Salvation Army also was unable to break out inkind donation of goods versus services but said the majority of it is made up of goods. One thing you might notice this year is the absence of United Jewish Communities (UJC), which has been among the top five organizations in recent years. Historically, the organization would submit estimates for the entire UJC system, including 155 federations around the country, but this year requested that federations be presented individually. UJC this year had total income of $608 million, but $531 million of that was indirect public support. UJC receives contributions from the individual federations to support oversees initiatives, so at the risk of double-counting those dollars, the federations were treated individually, with UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago making the list. Pew Charitable Trusts was included in the study since it changed its structure to an operating charity several years ago. GLOSSARY OF CATEGORIES Total revenue: Part I, Line 12, contributions plus other revenue. Public support: Part I, Line 1b (direct public support), donations from the public, foundations, corporations, etc.; and Part I, Line 1c (indirect public support), donations received through another entity, such as United Way, Combined Federal Campaign or affiliate organizations. Government: Part I, Line 1d, grants from a governmental agency other than fee for service contracts. Investment: Interest and dividends received from investments. Part I, Lines 4 and 5, interest and dividends; Part I, Line 7, other investment income; Part I, Line 8c (Column A), realized gains. Program Services: Part I, Lines 2 and 3. Fees and revenu http://www.nptimes.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The NonProfit Times - November 1, 2008

The NonProfit Times - November 1, 2008 Reach Out Community Investment Loans Agencies Aim For Back Office Savings Contents Page 4 Special Report: An In-Depth Study of America's Largest Profits Charity Accounts Foretold Ecomonic Meltdown Liquid Assets Groups Shaving Expenses With An Eye Toward ROI Green Is Good Governance Becoming Institutionalized National September 11 Memorial & Museum Finds Its Footing NPT 100 Groups Turning Real Estate Into Cash NPT 100 Investments Beat Broader Market The NPT Power & Influence Top 50 Gala Calendar NPT Jobs Resource Directory

The NonProfit Times - November 1, 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.