A New Mission for Nonprofits During the Outbreak: Survival NYT
NGOs, among others, are in a particularly difficult spot during this shutdown. Fundraising is frequently a challenging part of NGO work, particularly when applying for grants etc. When there is a downturn or crisis, everything becomes much more difficult. When an org is living at the very edge of financial viability at the best of times, there is little capacity left to cover gaps or challenging times.
In a 2018 survey by the Nonprofit Finance Fund, a consultant, three-quarters of nonprofits said they would run out of cash in less than six months. Nineteen percent said they had only enough funds to last, at the most, for a month.
(Bold mine, and I believe that this is a US stat, but not confirmed. I assume stats would be similar for Canada).
NYT
I had not seen specific stats on this piece, and, while I am not entirely surprised, it is still shocking, assuming these stats are accurate, to see how close to the financial viability edge many NGOS are operating.
In the immediate term, I hope NGOs and small businesses etc are able to get through this crisis intact. There will be very tough decisions to make, and things will likely get worse before they get better.
In the longer term, my hope is that NGOs, especially the smaller ones, learn from this and come back with stronger admin structures where needed, a more extensive donor relations base that can weather storms more easily, professional support and expertise where they need it, and a savings account that can help buy them time through the next crisis. In some cases, perhaps that will mean coming back to full functioning via a merger with a similar small NGO or any of a variety of creative solutions. Through this difficult time, stronger organizations with better program design, admin structures and donor relations may be the silver lining that we can look forward to. 🙂
