“Perfect Storm” of Fiscal Stress Hits Nonprofits

· Substantial numbers are also stepping up their marketing and their advocacy.

Additional findings of this survey included:

* While cultural institutions have been particularly hard hit by the recession, a third or more of child-serving and elderly-serving organizations also reported “severe” or “very severe” fiscal stress.
* Beyond the 51 percent of responding organizations that reported declining revenues, a substantial majority also anticipated further revenue declines over the coming months, particularly from private giving and government support.
* Among revenue sources, losses were particularly widespread from individual contributions (losses for 53 percent of organizations), corporate contributions (losses for 44 percent of organizations), and foundation support (losses for 42 percent of organizations).
* Reflecting their heavier reliance on donations, theaters and orchestras saw the worst revenue losses, with close to 80 percent of the theaters and 70 percent of orchestras reporting losses.
* Government support, which plays a larger role than philanthropy in the funding of nonprofits, declined at fewer organizations, but more than a third (35 percent) of organizations experienced declines in this important source of support, as well, and over 40 percent reported delays in government payments.
* More than half (57 percent) of organizations experienced increased health benefit costs, underlining the importance of health benefit reform for nonprofits.
* Nonprofits were also affected by the general collapse of investment asset values. Among the organizations that have endowments, 80 percent reported that they had decreased in value.
* Despite these realities, 73 percent of responding organizations reported being able to maintain or increase the number of people they serve, and for organizations serving vulnerable populations, this figure was even higher (96 percent for organizations serving people with disabilities, 92 percent for organizations serving the economically disadvantaged, 86 percent for organizations serving the elderly, and 82 percent for organizations serving children and youth).