Strengthening L.A.’s Nonprofits

23% of all City of Los Angeles jobs are nonprofit jobs, and we know that nonprofits are vital to the economic well-being of Los Angeles.

Nonprofits are critical to helping meet the needs of some of the city’s most vulnerable populations, including people experiencing homelessness. Unfortunately, too many nonprofits face barriers limiting their ability to deliver critical services to those most in need. BIPOC-led nonprofits face additional barriers, even though their cultural expertise is essential to reaching people most in need.

Our report, Resetting LA City to Meet Urgent Community Needs, outlines immediate actions to overhaul how the City of Los Angeles works with nonprofits with the goal of eliminating unnecessary financial strains to the city’s nonprofit partners. Created in partnership with Nonprofit Finance Fund and HR&A Advisors, the report reveals that nonprofits are unfairly burdened by cumbersome bureaucracy, delayed payments, and underpayments, impacting their ability to meet increased demands for social and supportive services.

“BIPOC-led organizations are uniquely positioned to reach diverse communities, but when we are shut out of funding opportunities or burdened with delays in payments, it deepens existing inequities in our city.”

Charisse Bremond-Weaver, President and CEO of the Brotherhood Crusade and Committee Member

Nonprofits are not just vendors or contractors for the City. They are long-trusted community
institutions, and city residents turn to them in times of need and vulnerability. Nonprofits connect with the most discriminated against and hardest-to-reach residents on behalf of the City.

The City, philanthropy, and all government agencies need to take meaningful action on this issue to make progress on the city’s pressing homelessness crisis. Addressing the urgent pain points facing the City’s nonprofits presents an immediate, high-impact opportunity to improve the delivery of services to LA’s unhoused residents.

This report was developed with generous funding from the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, Southern California Grantmakers, California Community Foundation, and Smidt Foundation.