by Karen Brune Mathis
Managing Editor
Northeast Florida nonprofit leader Rena Coughlin is happy to hear that there’s evidence of a national increase in giving, but she said local surveys suggest the area nonprofit community isn’t as optimistic.
A national GuideStar survey found that 20 percent of the national nonprofits it surveyed expected a budget decrease next year, while 46 percent expected an increase and 32 percent said their budgets will remain flat. The rest didn’t know.
Coughlin, CEO of the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida, said the center recently surveyed its members about their past year’s budgets.
Coughlin said 41 percent said their budgets decreased, 34 percent reported increases and 25 percent said their budgets remained flat.
“That’s a different question then asking about their contributions, but still indicative of overall fiscal health,” said Coughlin.
“When 40 percent of our respondents tell us that they had smaller budgets this year than last, that suggests significant retrenchment continues,” she said.
Coughlin said she was concerned about the near term.
“There’s often an increase in need during the holiday season, and if Congress continues to fail to deal with the extension on unemployment benefits, we could see many new families seeking support for food, shelter, utilities, rent and other essentials of daily life,” she said.
Coughlin said that, similar to national organizations, a majority of nonprofits are seeing an increased demand for services.
“That’s absolutely the case here in Northeast Florida,” she said.
Coughlin emphasized the importance of individual donations to organizations.
“It never fails to astound me how generous people are, even when they’re experiencing significant need themselves,” she said.
“Private foundations and wealthy philanthropists are important, government contracts and grants can be crucial, but the everyday, consistent donations from people like you and me keep the doors open at nonprofits,” she said.
Sherry Magill, president of the Jessie Ball duPont Fund, said she was pleased that GuideStar’s data showed improvement, “but we must remember that 2009 was a sobering year for giving and for nonprofits.”
The Jacksonville-based duPont Fund makes grants to more than 330 eligible organizations. It has assets of more than $265 million and has awarded $291 million in grants since 1977.
“We applaud the generosity of the American people, especially in this excruciatingly difficult economy,” said Magill.
“But we remain deeply concerned about the devastating effect of an 11 percent-plus unemployment rate on the most vulnerable in our community and the nonprofits that serve them. We hope that those who can afford it will continue to give generously,” she said.
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