CRISIS FUNDING
FPLG COVID-19 RESPONSE
CRISIS FUNDING
[UPDATE: November 14, 2020]
Despite the clear financial crunch faced by most nonprofits around the nation, there has been no additional federal help since late last spring, due to partisan obstructionism. It remains unclear whether there will be any significant help – or any help at all – during the lame duck period. Foundations have been easing up on their procedures and making larger payouts, but the massive amounts of funding needed cannot be made up from philanthropy alone.
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[UPDATE: May 25, 2020]
In response to the unprecedented emergency, government is stepping up with innovative loan and aid programs, but these efforts have been plagued with under-funding, bureaucratic hiccups, and administrative policies that fail to direct enough money to smaller businesses and nonprofits.
Donors at all giving levels are responding generously despite downturns in their own financial circumstances, but nonprofits are still experiencing budget shortfalls; overall, though, there will be a substantial decline in contributions. Rapid-response funds around the nation are generating substantial public support, but are not making up for revenue losses.
Foundations are taking the cue to revise some of their long-standing policies including increasing their current level of grantmaking and easing their restrictions and compliance requirements on grants.
Nonprofits are adapting to social-distancing rules and making the difficult switch, for the near term, to virtual fundraisers, but these substitutes aren’t expected to generate as much money as the traditional, in-person, fundraisers.
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[April 1, 2020]
The crisis facing our entire society has thrust the nonprofit sector into a dual role all too familiar from emergencies past: We are fighting for our survival while at the same time stepping up to provide needed benefits and services to our communities.
In these uncharted waters, nonprofit organizations are looking to sources of financial assistance both established (government contracts, foundation grants, and individual donors) as well as new (rapid-response funds and special government loans and benefits).
With tens of millions of additional people turning to and relying on charitable nonprofits for services since the novel coronavirus exploded in the United States, all nonprofit stakeholders – nonprofit board and staff members, government policymakers, philanthropists, business leaders, and the general public – need to call time out to consider how charitable nonprofits are faring in these daunting times. When doing so, you will see bright warning lights flashing and hear loud warning claxons sounding the alarm.
— Tim Delaney, NCN (11/10/20)
In the coming weeks and months, successful requests for charitable donations will need to be embedded in a larger expression of mutual support, empathy, and solidarity. And this approach should not be temporary: As the country deals with ever-greater personal loss and stress, charitable organizations can no longer do business as usual. The line between supporters and the supported will grow ever hazier. All of us will need help, and all of us will need to do our best to provide help to others.
— Alan Cantor (4/15/20)
The coronavirus pandemic has upended the finances of nonprofits around the world. Organizations have called off or postponed fundraising events. Donors at all giving levels are feeling the impact of the economy screeching to a halt and the plummeting stock market. Foundations have seen their endowments slashed by investment losses.
— Jim Rendon, (3/30/20)
REFERENCES & RESOURCES
- Warning Signs About the Fragility of Nonprofits in the Pandemic Era (November 12, 2020) Tim Delaney, National Council of Nonprofits
- How Donor Behavior Has Changed in 2020 (and What It Means for Year-End) (November 4, 2020) Laura Rhodes, CFRE, CGW,
- Four Considerations To Help Nonprofits Increase Revenue In 2021 (November 3, 2020) Shavonn Richardson, MBA, Forbes
- Charitable giving increased 7.5 percent in first half of 2020 (October 8, 2020) Lori Hunter Overmyer, Esq., Philanthropy News Digest
- The Frontlines of Nonprofit Distress Get Clearer (October 28, 2020) Martin Levine, The Nonprofit Quarterly
- The Big Reset: Guidance for Nonprofits (September 2020) Mario Morino, leapofreason.org
- Private foundations plan to increase grantmaking (September 30, 2020) Susan Friedlander Calzone, Philanthropy News Digest
- 3 Strategies to Successfully Fundraise Mid-Pandemic (August 3, 2020) Claire Axelrad, J.D.,C.F.R.E., Bloomerang Blog
- Financial Aid Expected for Struggling Nonprofits: The HEROES Act and Accessing PPP Loans (May 18, 2020) William Powers, Esq., & Anna Tang, Esq., Nossaman LLP
- Most Nonprofits Negatively Impacted by COVID-19, Survey Finds (May 14, 2020) Candid, Philanthropy News Digest
- Nonprofits Won’t Survive Unless the Federal Government Helps More Medium-Size Groups (May 11, 2020) Susan N. Dreyfus & John MacIntosh, The Chronicle of Philanthropy
- Philanthropy during COVID should focus on effective, local giving (May 5, 2020) Martin Morse Wooster, Philanthropy Daily
- Nonprofit Fundraising in the Age of Coronavirus (April 15, 2020) Alan Cantor,Harvard Business Review
- Struggles on the Ground: Nonprofits Face COVID-19 in Unclear Circumstances (April 1, 2020) Martin Levine and Ruth McCambridge, The Nonprofit Quarterly
- Leaders Argue That Nonprofits Need Government Aid (March 31, 2020) Dan Parks, The Chronicle of Philanthropy
- Financing During a Pandemic: How to Adapt to a Crisis (March 30, 2020) Jim Rendon, The Chronicle of Philanthropy
- Coronavirus and Nonprofits: Challenges & Resources (March 13, 2020) Linda J. Rosenthal, J.D., FPLG Blog