A National Imperative: Joining Forces to Strengthen Human Services in America (Jan 2018)

HUMAN SERVICES CBOS MAKE UP A LARGE, GROWING, AND VALUABLE PART OF THE ECONOMY There are over 210,000 human services community-based organizations (CBOs) providing services to communities across the nation in 2017. These CBOs are a large and important part of the economy in every state and county in America. Over half of these human services CBOs (56%) have annual revenues of less than $250,000. These organizations tend to have at most a handful of paid staff, modest, if any, property, and provide a narrow range of services within a small geographic footprint. At the other end of the spectrum, about 10,000 human services CBOs have revenues in excess of $10million. These large CBOs account for nearly 60% of the sector’s revenues. In aggregate, human services CBOs receive more than $200 billion in revenues for the delivery of services to individuals, families, and communities. 5 The number of CBOs is also growing. In the immediate aftermath of the Great Recession, government spending and charitable donations fell, and roughly 10% of CBOs closed their doors. 6   But the negative impact on human services CBO growth was short-lived. Formation of new CBOs is up sharply in recent years, such that there are nowmore human services CBOs with more assets and revenues than ever before. Over the last 10 years, the sector has grown at 2-3% per year on average, in line with overall economic growth, but growth has been more rapid since 2013. As discussed later, growth does not equate to financial strength. The Great Recession has accelerated a convergence of forces that are hitting the sector hard and making it increasingly difficult for human services CBOs to realize their fullest potential.

More than 210,000 human services CBOs in the US deliver

~$200 billion in services to individuals, families, and communities each year.

Exhibit 3: Growth of human services CBOs

TOTAL US HUMAN SERVICES CBOS IN THOUSANDS , 2007 2016

TOTAL US HUMAN SERVICES ASSETS AND REVENUES IN $ BILLIONS , 2007 2016

300

400

218

+ 2 %YO Y

+3%YOY

$347 Assets

150

200

$237 Revenues

0

0

2007

2008

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

2007

2008

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Source: National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS

20 |   A NATIONAL IMPERATIVE