Campaign to Raise Wages of City-funded Nonprofit Workers in 2026
During the spring of 2026, the San Francisco Living Wage Coalition worked on a campaign to increase funding for the Cost of Doing Business increase and establish a separate line item for funding the Minimum Compensation Ordinance increase within the Mayor’s Budget for the Fiscal Year 2026-2027. The Cost of Doing Business is a line item in the mayor’s budget that provides funding to non-profit organizations to cover inflation and other costs. The Minimum Compensation Ordinance mandates an annual wage increase on July 1st based on the prior year’s CPI increase.
The SFLWC sought to increase the Cost of Doing Business funding allocation to nearly 4 percent, which would fill in deficits created by the large increases in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) over the past couple of years. Just last year, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the CPI increase was 2.18 percent from the year prior. However, calculated from April of 2025 to April of 2026, the CPI increase was as much as 3.8 percent. This is mostly due to the increasing cost of fuel and transportation as a result of the U.S. government’s war on Iran.
During the spring and early summer of 2026, the San Francisco Living Wage Coalition made various efforts to campaign for a Cost of Doing Business increase. The Living Wage Coalition worked with the Service Employees International Union Local 1021 and Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 29, two unions representing city-funded nonprofit workers, and the SF Human Services Network, which represents executive directors of city-funded nonprofit agencies, as the Budget Justice Coalition, which is also a subgroup of the People’s Budget Coalition. First, as the Budget Justice Coalition, they held meetings with aides to members of the Board of Supervisors. Further, they participated in a citywide week of action from June 15th to 18th, participating in various rallies and activities around City Hall through the People’s Budget Coalition.
These efforts led to a Cost of Doing Business increase of 2.4 percent of funding that nonprofit organizations receive from the City’s General Fund, particularly to cover the costs of inflation and wages. The campaign also achieved an increase in funding for the Minimum Compensation Ordinance as a separate line item from the Cost of Doing Business.
by Sophie Ramirez
Report on Calculations of the Costs of a Wage Increase for IHSS Home Care Workers for FY 2024-2025
Action Steps
1. Petition to Mayor Breed and Board of Supervisors to Raise Wages for Nonprofit and Homecare Workers
Additional Materials
1. Read about campaign in 2024 for wage increases
2. Read about campaign in 2023 for wage increases
3. Campaign for City Funding for MCO Wage Increase for Non-profits in 2020
4. Wage Increases Won for 25,000 Workers in 2019
5. Campaign for City Funding for MCO Wage Increase for Non-profits in 2022