Homeboy Industries, the world’s largest re-entry program for formerly incarcerated, gang-involved individuals, is entering a significant phase of expansion that is intensifying its fundraising needs.

The downtown L.A.-based nonprofit – which now operates 17 social enterprises and a comprehensive suite of wraparound services for roughly 500 individuals – has plans to launch a residential substance use treatment facility, client housing, a commissary kitchen and a new urban farm site.

Fundraising is an even bigger priority, said Co-Chief Executive Steve Delgado, as the organization looks to support these capital-intensive projects alongside its nearly $55 million operating budget.

While the organization draws $25 million from philanthropy, $15 million from social enterprises, and the remainder from government funding, the push for expansion comes at a time when corporate partners are increasingly prioritizing established, legacy nonprofits whose values align closely with their own. Founded in 1988 by Jesuit priest Father Gregory Boyle to help former East L.A. gang members, the organization has evolved from a modest bakery into a multifaceted engine for economic and social stability.

“Our corporate partners continue to contribute in meaningful ways, even as they face their own resource challenges,” Delgado said. “To address those challenges, corporations are more focused on directing their philanthropic efforts towards trusted legacy organizations whose values align with their missions.”

Homeboy Industries isn’t the only nonprofit in L.A. County facing funding challenges.

In North Hills, Hope the Mission Chief Executive Ken Craft said the organization also has concerns as economic conditions continue to make individuals and corporations alike more cautious about their spending, especially when it comes to philanthropy.

The nonprofit operates 34 interim housing sites with more than 3,000 beds and provides 9,000 meals each day. Another 11 projects in the pipeline will add 850 beds this year.

Though he’s grateful to the organization’s donors, including its corporate partners, Craft said inflation and rising costs are reducing the impact of the donations it receives, while recent federal funding cuts have made transitioning people from interim to permanent housing more difficult.

“Ending homelessness requires more than providing a bed for the night,” said Craft.

While the county has made progress on homelessness, Craft said donor fatigue and media coverage of agencies mismanaging funds have both taken a toll. Hope the Mission has also expanded over the last few years, but Craft said the donations have not necessarily grown with it.

As a result, Craft said the nonprofit must now find more creative ways to stretch its dollars.

Giving by the numbers

According to Giving USA’s annual report on philanthropy, charitable donations reached the second-highest level on record in inflation-adjusted dollars in 2025, with the total growing to $617.2 billion, up 5.7% from 2024. Total giving rose 3% when adjusted for inflation.

Published by the Giving USA Foundation, a public service initiative of The Giving Institute, the report was researched and written by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Researchers found that bequest donations saw the largest increase in 2025, reaching $62.19 billion, a nearly 20% rise from 2024 that levels off to 16.6% when adjusted for inflation. Foundations followed with $117.15 billion, up 5.7% or 3% after inflation adjustments. Individual giving also grew, rising 4.1% to $394.2 billion, or 1.4% when adjusted for inflation.

While corporate giving rose 3.1% to $43.67 billion, that growth effectively flattened when adjusted for inflation, increasing just 0.5% in 2025. That pace in giving represents a significant shift in corporate philanthropy coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Corporate giving has grown by 60% over the last five years, outpacing the 29% increase in total giving, said Jon Bergdoll, interim director of data and research partnerships at the Lilly School. And 2021 was the largest giving year on record when adjusted for inflation: corporate giving reached $33.6 billion in nominal terms, up 23.2% from the prior year. Overall giving totaled $556.1 billion – roughly $660.8 billion in 2025 dollars, he said, significantly larger than the 2025 value.

“That was a unique time in our history, with a huge upswelling of need combining with stock market growth and less overall spending by the public, which provided a ripe environment for charitable giving,” Bergdoll said.

Geoff Green, chief executive of the San Francisco-based California Association of Nonprofits, said he’s concerned about the declining overall number of donors and the growing reliance on megadonors.

“Twenty years ago, more than two-thirds of American households gave to charity. Today it is less than half,” said Green. “So, while the total amount given continues to rise, fewer and fewer donors are participating.”

Shift in the socioeconomic ladder

Green attributed the long-term decline in part to the historic concentration of wealth at the top of the socioeconomic ladder and to increasing struggles at the bottom.

Also of concern, the nonprofit sector is now facing new and serious challenges, including the elimination of billions of dollars in federal grants, attacks on the missions of many charitable organizations and false accusations of fraud by President Donald Trump’s administration, Green said. However, in many cases, he said this has resulted in a huge outpouring of public support.

Still, Green said the sector remains resilient and continues to enjoy the hard-earned trust of the overwhelming majority of Californians.

In a 2025 member survey by the California Association of Nonprofits, 58% of the 231 respondents said their organizations were “holding steady” despite challenges, and 25.1% said they’re stable and growing. The remaining survey participants – nearly 17% – reported experiencing “significant challenges.”

The association’s findings contrast with those of a recent national study by the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP).

CEP Senior Analyst Seara Grundhoefer said that about 60% of the 380 nonprofits surveyed expressed worries about long-term financial stability, and 90% were concerned about executive burnout. Seventy-three percent of leaders reported increased demand for services, about one-third said they were considering reducing services, and 14% were weighing a reduction in office space in response.

Unlike the pandemic era, when many organizations received increased government funding, Grundhoefer said nonprofits have seen federal and state grants decline over the last year and a half, while individual and other types of donations have also softened. In response, she said organizations are considering drawing on their reserves, using artificial intelligence tools, and pursuing new donors and joint fundraising opportunities to help meet their needs.

From checks to volunteers

Andrew Jones, a principal researcher at the New York-based nonprofit, nonpartisan business research organization The Conference Board, said that while the growth in corporate giving has slowed compared to the pandemic and early post-pandemic years, there’s also been a shift in approach, with greater emphasis on employee volunteer initiatives, skills-based service and nonprofit capacity-building alongside traditional cash and in-kind contributions.

“At the executive level, corporate philanthropy has undergone a recalibration amid heightened political and legal scrutiny of DEI and other related issues,” said Jones. “Organizations are concentrating their efforts on more tangible, broadly supported issues like housing, food, education and workforce development where the impact is visible and political risk is lower.”

In some cases, corporations are also providing training opportunities to employees at nonprofit organizations to improve efficiency.

Roger Castle, chief development officer for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, said he’s noticed the shift in corporate strategies.

“Corporate giving has remained consistent following the extraordinary levels of support seen during the pandemic,” Castle said. “At the same time, many companies are looking for opportunities where they can see a direct, measurable impact in their local communities.”

Volunteer engagement has also continued to grow, he said. In 2025 alone, more than 36,000 volunteers contributed over 239,000 hours of service, helping sort, pack and distribute food throughout Los Angeles County.

The food bank serves an average of approximately 1.1 million people each month through direct programs and a network of more than 600 partner agencies across L.A. County. In 2025, Castle said it distributed nearly 160 million pounds of food and grocery products as a result of increased demand due to natural disasters, economic pressures and disruptions to public assistance programs.

Leveraging partnerships across the food supply chain, the organization rescues surplus food that might otherwise go to waste and redirects it to families experiencing food insecurity – though Castle said financial support remains essential to safely store, glean and distribute donated items in the community.

Downtown-based City National Bank recently awarded a $100,000 grant to Olive Crest to support construction of a new 12-unit affordable housing building for teenagers and young adults transitioning out of the child welfare system in L.A. County.

The Santa Ana-based nonprofit provides a wide range of services and resources to children and families in crisis across the western United States, including L.A., Orange, San Diego and Riverside counties, as well as Santa Barbara and the Coachella Valley in California.

“We are very grateful to City National for this funding, which will help us continue to provide safe places for our youth to call a home,” said Alex Viering, executive director at Olive Crest L.A.

In an email, City National’s head of community reinvestment Adey Tesfaye said the bank conducts an annual needs assessment across the communities it serves, soliciting formal and informal feedback from community groups and tracking nonprofits’ records and the impact they’re having. As the largest bank headquartered in Los Angeles, Tesfaye said a large part of the bank’s focus is on L.A. County and the surrounding areas.

Olive Crest fits into the bank’s equation, Tesfaye said, because its work addresses some of the region’s most pressing issues, supporting youth housing needs as well as workforce development and financial education. The two organizations have partnered for eight years.

“Beyond simply funding Olive Crest, our team volunteers directly with the organization to provide financial education and equip young people with financial skills that are essential for long-term success,” Tesfaye said.

Walking with Anthony, headquartered in Brentwood and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was one of three small businesses to receive a $20,000 grant after being named among Intuit QuickBooks and Mailchimp’s 2026 Small Business Heroes.

Founded in 2010 by Micki and Anthony Purcell after Anthony sustained a life-changing spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed at age 23, the nonprofit has grown into a national resource for spinal cord injury survivors, providing emergency grants for specialized rehabilitation, adaptive equipment, caregiving and other essential resources that help individuals continue their recovery when insurance coverage ends.

“Spinal cord injury is one of the most expensive and complex injuries to recover from,” said Micki Purcell. “Insurance coverage for rehabilitation often ends after just 21 days, but recovery doesn’t.”

The nonprofit receives nearly 50 grant applications each month from survivors seeking to continue therapy, regain their independence and rebuild their lives, Purcell said. The growing demand has made corporate partnerships more important than ever. Beyond financial support, she said, the Intuit partnership has helped elevate the organization’s mission and introduce it to audiences it might never have reached otherwise.

Betting on the bricks

As community needs continue to grow and nonprofits seek to navigate rising costs, some organizations are turning to real estate ownership to better predict and manage expenses.

According to John Bosko, executive vice president at Encino-based NAI Capital Commercial’s investment services group, leasing has long been the default for nonprofits, but those with stable operations and long-range plans are “increasingly weighing ownership as a way to build equity and gain more control over facilities costs.”

“For nonprofits with the financial capacity to do so, that shift can mean the difference between being subject to a landlord’s decisions and having a permanent, adaptable home to grow into,” said Bosko.

Homeboy Industries recently acquired the historic Monastery of the Angels property in the Hollywood Hills, which it plans to use for its inpatient substance use treatment and wellness facility. The acquisition and development of the 4-acre property will be funded in part by a nearly $25 million state behavioral health grant.

Delgado said the organization has also purchased land to build a 16,000-square-foot commissary kitchen that will support Homeboy Industries’ food-service social enterprise businesses. In addition, plans are underway to build housing next to its main campus in Chinatown. The Father Gregory Boyle Center for Radical Kinship will anchor Hope Village, offering more than 200 units of supportive and transitional housing.

“Homeboy Industries is working with the city of Los Angeles on a long-term ground lease to develop the housing that the community needs,” said Delgado. “We’ve been fortunate to receive transformational commitments for projects like Hope Village, the Homeboy Art Academy, Home of the Angels and our newest facilities.”

Some in the nonprofit sector are concerned about how new rules in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act may affect corporate giving. Starting this tax year, corporations can deduct contributions only if they exceed 1% of taxable income. Total charitable deductions remain capped at 10% of a company’s taxable income, with any excess eligible for a five-year carryforward.

“The new floor could particularly affect companies giving below or just above 1%
of (their) taxable income and may encourage some to ‘bunch’ contributions into certain years,” Jones said. “But tax treatment is only one factor. Community needs, employee expectations, reputation and business strategy also shape giving, so it is too early to predict a broad pullback.”