Wednesday, August 18, 2010

The Effect of the Economy on the Nonprofit Sector: A June 2010 Survey

BETF is a valued partner of Guidestar. We participated earlier this year in a survey measuring the impact of the economy on the nonprofit sector.

Public charities and private foundations continued to take a beating during the first five months of 2010. Some 40 percent of participants in GuideStar's first nonprofit economic survey for 2010 reported that contributions to their organizations dropped between January 1 and May 31, 2010, compared to the same period a year earlier. Another 28 percent said that contributions had stayed about the same, and 30 percent stated contributions had increased.

"The Effect of the Economy on the Nonprofit Sector: A June 2010 Survey" presents these results and more. Among the other findings:
  • Eight percent of respondents indicated that their organizations was were in imminent danger of closing.
  • In order to balance budgets, 17 percent of respondents reduced program services, and 11 percent laid off employees.
  • More than 60 percent of participants reporting decreased contributions attributed the drop to a decline in both the number of individual donors and the size of their donations.
  • Among organizations that use volunteers, 17 percent used one or more in what had formerly been paid positions.
  • About a third (32 percent) of organizations increased their reliance on volunteers, whereas 9 percent experienced a decline.
Chuck McLean, GuideStar's vice president for research, and research assistant Carol Brouwer conducted the survey, analyzed the results, and prepared the survey report.

Download your free copy of the report.

After you read the 11-page report ... please return and share your COMMENTS and insights with us.

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