Financial Safety Net of Nonprofit Organizations Is Fraying, Survey Finds

The NY Times featured an article on the findings of a recent survey that show the financial health of the nation’s nonprofit groups is rapidly deteriorating. The survey included 900 nonprofit leaders from around the country.

Only 12 percent of those organizations expect to end the year with an operating surplus, compared with 40 percent who ended their most recent fiscal years with money on hand, according to the survey by the Nonprofit Finance Fund, a charity that provides loans and other financial services to nonprofit groups.

Almost a third said they did not have enough cash on hand to cover more than one month’s expenses, while roughly another third said they only had enough money to get them through the next three months.

Another point of interest is that more than half the respondents said they would like help communicating their financial difficulties to their boards and donors, highlighting the growing belief in the nonprofit world that government and the public do not understand the role it plays in American society. Read more here.