‘Hispanic Business’: Growth of Nonprofit Groups

The Mexican American Opportunity Foundation, in Montebello, Calif., spends more than any other nonprofit group in the country that serves Hispanics, says Hispanic Business magazine (September). The organization poured $42.5-million into projects in California, primarily helping troubled families, the elderly, and children.

The magazine ranked the 25 largest groups serving Hispanics according to how much of their revenue they spent in 2001. Second on the list was Chicanos Por La Causa, a community-development group in Phoenix that spent $37.9-million last year.

The magazine says the growth of the Hispanic population has meant that many organizations are expanding quickly, and that more and more types of groups are sprouting up to meet needs that had not previously been met. “The awareness grows with the demographics: Not every Hispanic organization can deal with every problem facing the Hispanic community,” says Martin Castro, president of the Mexican American Opportunity Foundation. “I see more Hispanic organizations coming into being.”

The growth of individual organizations that serve Hispanics is leading to changes, says the magazine. Walter Sava, executive director of United Community Center, a Milwaukee group that ranked 18 on the list, says: “As nonprofits have become bigger operations, you see executive directors who were making $50,000 or $60,000 now making $120,000. Those trends will affect how nonprofits are perceived by the public.” He added: “We could be entering the cycle of nonprofits playing fat cats.”

The article is available online at http://hispanicbusiness.com.