Back in 2014, CalNonprofits, our state association for charities and “the voice for California’s nonprofit community,” issued a report on the state of charities in California, called Causes Count.  It was a unique snapshot of the sector that revealed its importance in some hard numbers, including:

• At nearly a million employees, nonprofits were the fourth largest industry employer in California – larger than construction, finance, or real estate – and contributed 15% of our Gross State Product.
• Nonprofits held $328 billion in assets, generated $208 billion in revenue, and paid $37 billion in taxes.
• Yet only about a third of California’s 75,000 nonprofits had a paid staff.

It’s been nearly five years, and a lot has changed in the world.  Working with The Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego, CalNonprofits will be updating and expanding Causes Count in 2019.  And to do that, they need information from as many charities in California as possible, including yours, now.  Last week, emails went out requesting charities to provide input by completing a 10-15 minute survey by December 21.  If your organization got an email, we urge you to please have it filled out.  If you didn’t get an email, here’s a link to the survey.

We can all help make sure that when charities talk, people listen.

Rosemary Fei, the author of this post, is honored to be serving as a member-elected director of CalNonprofits.