Comstock's magazine 0620 - June June 2020 | Page 92

Capital Region Cares
NONPROFITS STRUGGLE
DURING A CRISIS TOO
Nonprofit organizations often fill critical needs in communities during a crisis. The massive
disruption from the COVID-19 pandemic is one of those times. During record levels of unemployment,
food banks are overwhelmed, some reporting requests 10 times normal as they
struggle with shortages of food and volunteers, many of them elderly and vulnerable to infection.
In short, the nonprofits we turn to during a crisis are in a crisis themselves. A Sacramento Region
Community Foundation survey of 250 nonprofits show 75 percent feared long-term financial
distress from the shutdown. Another survey of 109 nonprofits in seven counties in the greater
Sacramento area by Sacramento State assistant professor Ryan Fuller found that nearly 20 percent
have closed, nearly 68 percent have cut staff and operations, and around half reported losing
volunteers. Most said they could only survive for 3-6 months with their existing cash.
Fortunately, the generosity of local donors is stepping up to meet the increased need. On
May 7, the region’s Big Day of Giving, a 24-hour fundraising initiative by the Sacramento Region
Community Foundation, around 65,000 donations (about 45 percent more than last year’s approximately
43,500 donations) pledged nearly $12 million to help 615 local nonprofits, surpassing
last year’s $8.4 million. Plus, 1,501 people pledged 68,643 volunteer hours.
In a unique three-way partnership, the California Association of Food Banks received $2.8 million
in state and federal government funds (plus an anonymous $600,000 donation) to cover
harvesting and transportation costs as large food producers are filling 41 food banks statewide
that deliver meals for children and working poor, showing nonprofits are working hard to find
solutions in these unprecedented times.
There is an encouraging note in Fuller’s survey that reveals how nonprofits are adapting. Faced
with the loss of galas and other traditional fundraising activities, 71 percent of the nonprofits
who responded say they “have innovated new ways to deliver the organization’s mission” to stay
connected to supporters. One example: A Touch of Understanding, which provides services to
schoolchildren, held a virtual auction of donated items to make up for the loss of program fees
normally paid by now-closed schools that are half of its annual budget.
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram can provide donors updates
on a nonprofit’s activity and website links that provide updated information that reminds donors
of the organization’s need — and success. The Giving USA foundation advises nonprofits to continue
talking to donors, especially during times of great need, through social media, emails and
phone calls, and cautions that a disconnect in communication is the biggest reason donors cite
when they quit giving. It’s also a good time to remind potential donors that the Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Security Act increased tax deductions for charitable giving up to 100 percent
of adjusted gross income for 2020.
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92 comstocksmag.com | June 2020
March 2017 | comstocksmag.com 92