Private philanthropy, government grants and revenue from programs. Local nonprofits depend on each source of funding to stay on their feet and are keeping a close eye on them as the U.S. economy tightens.
“It is a time of fairly substantial anxiety of what?s going on,” said Peter Berns, executive director of the Maryland Association of Nonprofit Organizations. “Organizations are experiencing increased demand for service, and there is concern whether they?ll be able to meet that demand in the face of stagnant revenues.”
Overall giving has grown year over year almost nonstop since the 1950s, according to Tim May, director of development with Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit affordable housing organization based in Columbia. But May said some corporate givers have begun scaling back donation plans.
“There are sectors that are definitely feeling the crunch, like financial institutions,” May said. “Where they had funded us with multiyear grants, they?re doing one-year grants or slashing their philanthropic budgets. That?s just one industry.”
Locally, Provident Bank donates about $800,000 a year to local charities, in addition to staff time and work with the organizations, according to spokeswoman Vicki Cox. The bank hopes to match that number this year.
“We want to remain at our present giving levels, but the economy?s a wild card, and like all businesses, we?re looking at how the ups and downs will affect us,” Cox said.
Most recent numbers show that donations are still coming in, Berns said, and regardless, nonprofit organizations will continue their work.
“Some of the end-of-the-year results suggest that in the U.S., people are tremendously generous,” Berns said. “I think people are not expecting there to be as robust growth as in past years and are hoping they can hold their own.”
Nonprofits in recent years have turned to social enterprise projects as means to generate income for their programs, said Jessica Walbridge, assistant director of social enterprises for Parks & People Foundation in Baltimore. Parks & People just launched its first social enterprise, selling trees to individuals and businesses in Baltimore.
“If consumers have less money, one of the things that will fall away is philanthropic giving,” Walbridge said. “We can?t just be asking all the time.”
