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The State of Nonprofits Through the Pandemic

Persevering Through Crisis: The State of Nonprofits, a recent report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), outlines how nonprofits fared amid the pandemic and where they are now. 

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A facemask and a COVID-19 vaccine vile on a yellow background

Persevering Through Crisis: The State of Nonprofits, a recent report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), outlines how nonprofits fared amid the pandemic and where they are now. 

The report offers a snapshot of the devastating impacts of COVID-19 through a survey of their Grantee Voice panel, a national sample of CEOs from nonprofit, grant-seeking organizations that receive at least one grant from foundations giving $5 million or more annually. 

CEP surveyed 163 nonprofit leaders in February 2021 and compared data from a previous survey conducted in May 2020.

Examining the Heath of Nonprofits in 2021 vs. 2020

•    In February 2021, 28% of nonprofit leaders said their organizations have experienced significant negative impacts of the pandemic compared to 46% in May 2020. 

o    37% of respondents from arts and culture organizations said the pandemic had a significant negative impact compared to 26% of respondents for all other organizations.

•    In May 2020, 81% of organizations said they had already or expected to reduce programs or services compared to 58% who said they ultimately did take these actions in February 2021.  

•    In May 2020, 80% of organizations said they had or expected to draw from reserves compared to 38% who did in February 2021. 

Nonprofits and their Relationships with Foundation Partners

•    63% of nonprofit leaders felt they were able to be very candid with their foundation partners about the challenges they faced.

•    67% of nonprofit leaders said their foundation funders had some understanding of what they needed at the time. 

o    10% of women-led organizations said foundation funders had no understanding compared to 3% of men-led organizations. 

•    A majority of nonprofit leaders whose organizations primarily serve Asian (71%), Pacific Islander (71%), Middle Eastern (82%) or Native American (67%) communities report that no foundations provided new funding in 2020 to support these communities.

In conclusion, the report found that nonprofits fared better than they thought because of increased support from the government, foundations and individual donors. However, nonprofits led by women and nonprofits serving certain communities of color experienced support from their foundation partners to a lesser degree.

According to the report, some nonprofit leaders who were surveyed worry that the increased support they experienced from foundations and donors will decline in the near future.

“Now is not the time for us to go backward. Let’s use this moment of converging crises to impose excellence upon ourselves for the long-term benefit of philanthropy, our own institutions, nonprofits, and the communities that need us more than ever,” Tonya Allen of the McKnight Foundation, Kathleen Enright of the Council on Foundations and Hilary Pennington of the Ford Foundation shared in the report.

Over the past year and a half, CMF has been working in close partnership with the Michigan Nonprofit Association (MNA) and Michigan Association of United Ways (MAUW) to understand the needs and the impact of COVID-19 on nonprofits.  

CMF worked in partnership with MNA and the Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM) to launch a focused effort to ensure nonprofits were included in and had the necessary tools to access critical funding through the Paycheck Protection Program last spring.

“MNA continues to support nonprofits during the pandemic through a variety of ways including webinars, advocacy and by keeping racial equity front and center. We’ve also set up a special COVID-19 toolkit packed with resources and information to help nonprofits weather the storm,” Tammy Pitts, director of marketing & communications at MNA said. 

As CMF reported, MNA launched a survey asking nonprofit leaders to share the state of their organizations’ financial stability amid the pandemic. 

MNA is in the process of updating the survey, which will run through August, focusing on how nonprofits are planning to return to work.

Want more?

Read the full report. 

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