Oregon Nonprofits Face Huge Challenges Due to Pandemic

Portland, OR. Oregon nonprofits are facing some big obstacles because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonprofits like Boy & Girls Club (seen above) are still serving kids in our area, but fundraising is tougher.

Across Oregon, the nonprofit community is pulling together in amazing ways to combat the impacts
of the COVID-19 pandemic, including responding to emergent needs by establishing new services and programs and responding to new clients. Even as creative as the nonprofit sector has become in moving programs online, investing in PPE, and physically distanced staff and volunteers, a new study indicates many of our vital institutions – domestic violence shelters, children’s museums, food banks, and homeless shelters – are at the breaking point.

The Nonprofit Association of Oregon (NAO), along with several other organizations, worked to quantify the impact and challenges of the COVID-19 crisis on 501(c)(3) nonprofits through a survey that ran from June 2 to June 28, 2020. This preliminary report is a summary of key findings from responses shared by 490 Oregon nonprofit leaders. The respondents represent a broad cross-section of charitable nonprofit types and sizes from across the state.

Key Findings:

Researched by the Nonprofit Association of Oregon (NAO), Portland State University’s Nonprofit Institute, Mercy Corps Northwest, and Oregon Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (ORVOAD)

Nonprofits are Essential to COVID-19 Response Efforts: 49% of the nonprofits reported adding new clients, services, or programs since the start of the pandemic. Of these nonprofits, 77% have added
new services to directly assist with COVID-19 response, demonstrating the essentiality and agility of nonprofits in responding to societal needs and emergencies. Additionally, 23% reported they are serving brand new clients from their pre-COVID programming.

Pandemic significant Impacts on Core Programming:

Nonprofits indicated that their current levels of operations or services have been significantly impacted by the pandemic. 60% of respondents reported functioning at reduced levels of services, while 14% reported seeing no change, and 18% reported an increase in their levels of services or operations.

Changes in Demand for Nonprofits’ Services: 38% of respondents have seen an increase in demand for their services, as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. 31% have seen a decrease, with 22% seeing no change.
It should be noted that some demands for services
of educational, arts and culture, and environmental nonprofits have decreased as a direct result of government-mandated shelter-in-place requirements.

“We expect to see a food insecurity crisis… that will be unlike anything we’ve seen for generations. We also expect to see a significant increase in mental health and addiction crisis…”

Impact of COVID-19 on Oregon Charitable Nonprofits Preliminary Report ‒ Key Findings Summary – July 30, 2020

Returning to pre-COVID-19 Levels of Operations: 28% of nonprofits foresee taking between six months to one year to return to pre-COVID-19 levels of operations. However, all this is based on the COVID-19 pandemic being contained. Only 17% of nonprofits believe they can return to pre-COVID-19 levels of operations in the next one to six months.

Conclusion

The future outlook is that the needs of communities and the resources available for response will simply become incongruent. For instance, while a sizable number of nonprofits are optimistic about the stability of government contracts and grants through 2020, the extent to which this optimism is aligned with the announced cuts by the State of Oregon and the grim budget forecasts for most counties and municipalities remains to be seen.

The data reveals that nonprofits organizations need to work to improve outreach and inclusion efforts in a totally changed environment. Even well-intended response efforts are also dramatically highlighting and exacerbating the damage and harm of the serious racial and social inequities in our nation and state. Lack of access to regular health care has compounded the pandemic for minorities, immigrant communities, the homeless, and the poor. The ‘digital divide’ denies many people both in cities (due to income disparities) and in rural areas access to vital information about the pandemic and online portals for financial assistance. The debacle that is the Oregon unemployment filing system has caused even greater strains.

The sustained support of federal and state governments and foundations with direct and continuous fiscal assistance is imperative. The nonprofit sector is part of our “critical civic infrastructure” and
must be thought of in terms of not only preserving and providing our safety net but also building the quality of life we want in our communities. Unavoidable cuts in state and county budgets due to a down economy and less taxable income from individuals and companies will undercut much of the relief effort for people and communities in need. This is the time when the government and foundations need to release funds from their respective emergency reserves. Without immediate attention and firm commitments of resources to this critical sector, our efforts to recover and move forward as a state will severely be impeded.

“We are having to completely remake our school. The state mandates on stable group size and other health and safety mandates will shift our daily work and ability to provide programming.”

Researched by the Nonprofit Association of Oregon (NAO), Portland State University’s Nonprofit Institute, Mercy Corps Northwest, and Oregon Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (ORVOAD)