New Survey Data Show How Nonprofits Are Moving Forward

The impact of recent funding cuts and policy shifts on nonprofits have been documented by Center for Effective Philanthropy, Nonprofit Finance Fund, and others. To help better understand how nonprofits anticipate moving through these challenges and ways funders can help, we conducted a survey of nonprofits who had completed one of our scenario planning cohorts.  

Here are five things we learned.  

1. Nearly half (45%) of respondents report changing their strategies in the past year. “We established goals to reduce reliance on federal funding; redesigned some of our program initiatives, including our work with immigrants and refugees …” said one respondent. “After a few years of full federal support (for equitable transportation electrification), we’ve seen a 180 to hostile policy and funding cancellations. Our strategy has shifted to focus on states/local work and best practice development while we fight defense federally for now,” another respondent said. 
2. Most organizations reported modifying their programs and initiatives in response to the current environment as well. Modifications included launching new programs, modifying existing programs, sunsetting programs, and changing approach to partnerships.  
3. Many organizations are exploring new approaches to partnership, including changing how they work with current partners, partnering with new organizations, and sunsetting partnerships. One respondent shared the following: “Our partnership approach has become more strategic and intentional due to capacity constraints. We are being transparent with partners about our current limitations and respectfully declining opportunities that don’t align with our organizational priorities or available resources… At the same time, we’re exploring new partnership models that require minimal financial investment while still creating mutual value. We’ve developed a partnership evaluation rubric to help us guide these decisions, helping us assess whether opportunities align with mission, values, and capacity before committing.” (See a sample partnership assessment rubric and other tools in our Partnership Strategy Field Guide.)  
4. As nonprofits experience cuts in funding from public sources along with an increase in demand for services, many consider private funding sources to be the most likely sources of increased revenue. Survey respondents report seeking new funding from private foundations and individual donors, and 60 percent of respondents are considering exploring new fee-for-service or earned revenue offerings. (See our Earned Revenue Strategies field guide here for more guidance.) 
5. Looking ahead, nonprofits anticipate the need to build skills and capacity in several areas, including the following

• • Fundraising and revenue generation (88%)
  • Technological skills such as using AI and strengthening digital security (81%)
  • Communications (73%) 
  • Partnerships, collaboration, and coalition building (65%) 

 While this data point to ways funders could support nonprofits, at the same time, private philanthropy alone can not bridge the gap that exists due to federal funding cuts and the increased demand for services many nonprofits are experiencing. Funders and nonprofits together will need to imagine new ways of working. A few questions for funders that survey respondents shared might inspire deeper reflection: 

• • “How are you preparing to be nimble during volatile times?” 
  • “How are you using the current crisis to ensure a stronger and more effective set of organizations will exist in 2-4 years to once again advance the objectives you care about?” 
  • “Why aren’t you being brave, giving away more money with less strings, and funding movements?” 

If your nonprofit or grantmaking organization is trying something new to be nimble, innovative, or brave during these times, we’d love to hear from you. Please reach out to Lori at lbartczak@communitywealth.com to share your story.  

You can access the full data from our survey here.