For the third year in a row, The NonProfit Times, a business magazine for nonprofit management, has named Lutheran Services in America the largest non-profit organization in the U.S. The ranking is based on budget size. LSA, an alliance of the ELCA and the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod and their 280 social ministry organizations, managed a budget of $7.6 billion in 2001. About 92.5% of those funds went directly to help those in need. Lutheran Social Services of the South, which operates in our synod, is one of the social ministry organizations of the LSA.
About one third of LSA's income was generated through its program services, which has a sliding scale of fees; about one third came from donations and investments; about one third was received from government allocations. Government money was granted under the same criteria as used for non-faith based organizations.
LSA serves people in the United States and the Caribbean. During 2001 LSA organizations aided 105,000 people in residential care, placed 2,768 children in adopted families, provided for 127,672 children in foster care, and offered social services to 780,708 people. Most of these people were living below the federal poverty level.
In a recent speech to Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio, LSA President Jill Schumann spoke of the continuing growth of the organization even in times of economic trouble. She said, "Each Lutheran social ministry organization can tell a series of stories of faithful people who, refreshed by the wellspring of Christ's love, directed that care to others. . . . Lutherans simply responded with little fanfare."
Other nonprofits ranked in the top ten by The Nonprofit Times include the National Council of YMCAs, the American Red Cross, Catholic Charities, United Jewish Communities, Goodwill Industries International, Salvation Army, Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, and American Cancer Society.
You can learn more about LSA at www.lutheranservices.org and about The NonProfit Times at www.nptimes.com.