Nonprofits are at a familiar point of reckoning.
As the recession takes its toll on jobs and forces people from their homes, demands for help are up. But donations aren’t.
Local nonprofits saw donations from companies and individuals start to slide last year. For some, revenue could be even lower this year.
It’s a squeeze that plays out every few years in down economies. But, as with just about all aspects of the current recession, things haven’t been this bad in a while.
“The need is growing exponentially,” said Kristin Bush, spokeswoman for United Way in Irvine. “People are really scared for what 2009 is going to look like.”
Most nonprofits will survive the year, according to Samta Jain, who teaches nonprofit fundraising at University of California, Irvine. But some smaller ones could shut down or combine, she said.
Santa Ana-based Orangewood Children’s Foundation, which raises money for a foster home in Orange, recently laid off eight people, or about 11% of its staff, and cut some services.
Costa Mesa’s Share Our Selves, which helps the homeless and needy, recently took on Families Costa Mesa, a 14-year-old nonprofit that offers adult literacy, parenting and other classes.
Families Costa Mesa now is known as the SOS Family Center. Some Share Our Selves classes are moving to the family center.
“If we’re really good business people, then we’ve got to get better,” said Karen McGlinn, executive director of Share Our Selves. “We can’t always ask for money.”
Fountain Valley-based Working Wardrobes, which helps people dealing with domestic violence or other problems ready themselves for work, recently adjusted its 2009 budget after falling short last year.
The group missed its 2008 goal of raising $2.2 million, coming in at $1.8 million. This year, it’s targeting $2 million.
“We’ve been very conservative in our projections,” said Jerri Rosen, founder and chief executive of Working Wardrobes.
The group recently moved its annual Bauble, Bangles & Bags fundraiser to March from June. The event typically raises $100,000 to $125,000 a year.
“We wanted the cash flow earlier in the year,” Rosen said.
Working Wardrobes also is planning a fundraiser for September, she said.
But instead of a fancy gala, the event will be casual with a lower ticket price. The theme: blue jeans and blues.
Events cost money to put on, Rosen said, “But there is a real need to get the word out, to bring in new people.”
Housing Budget
Santa Ana-based Habitat for Humanity Orange County, which builds homes for those who can’t afford housing, is budgeting conservatively for 2009, said Sharon Ellis, executive director.
Its goal is $10.5 million in revenue for the 12 months through June, up slightly from $10.3 million a year earlier.
“We’re being more cautious,” she said.
Habitat for Humanity is reconsidering conferences it usually attends and paying attention to every dollar it spends, Ellis said.
Orange County United Way also has a more modest goal for this year. Last year, it raised $12.2 million for local programs. Its 2009 target is $13 million.
United Way’s total yearly revenue of about $23 million includes donations for programs outside OC.
The group offers financial support to about 100 nonprofits, including Santa Ana’s Taller San Jose, which helps educate young adults and find them work; Irvine’s Human Options Inc., which provides shelter to battered women and their children; and Costa Mesa-based Spin Inc., which helps homeless people.
OC United Way has targeted its giving, granting money to programs as opposed to a nonprofit itself, spokeswoman Bush said.
Workplace Campaign
A big part of the group’s income comes from United Way’s workplace campaign, where workers at companies across the county give through their paychecks. The county’s 6.5% unemployment rate, the highest since the early 1990s, stands to impact contributions.
“We’re worried about it,” Bush said.
At best, United Way is hoping for its workplace campaign to be flat this year, she said.
This is the year for nonprofits to get to know their target givers better and boost the amount of smaller donors, UC Irvine’s Jain said.
“Focus on the people who have the ability and the propensity to give to your organization,” she said. “The more personal the communication, the better off they are.”
The board for Habitat for Humanity of Orange County is getting personal. Board members set their own fundraising goals and then made online appeals to people they know.
“We don’t have the results yet,” executive director Ellis said. “But it’s a new way for the organization to target donors in a more personal way.”
Nonprofits also are chasing donors in healthier parts of the economy.
United Way is targeting the video game makers and healthcare companies, which haven’t been hit as hard as others.
Donations from real estate companies, big givers earlier this decade, have all but disappeared.
Now another pillar of giving,banks,is fading.
“Some banks aren’t around even around anymore,” United Way’s Bush said.
