What a difference a year has made for Massachusetts nonprofits. MassINC polling group surveyed nearly 500 Massachusetts nonprofit leaders and employees to see how federal policy changes have impacted the Commonwealth’s nonprofit community. The resulting report, which was released last week, was done in partnership with The Boston Foundation and the newly renamed Massachusetts Council of Nonprofits (formerly Massachusetts Nonprofit Network). It paints a vivid picture of a nonprofit sector under pressure to respond to growing community needs, while managing tighter budgets, anxious staff, and an uncertain funding landscape. Members of the Teak Media team were grateful participants in the audience when the report was discussed at a recent Boston Foundation breakfast. Here is what they learned:
Everyone is worse off
Survey respondents reported bleak results when they were asked to compare conditions today to those of a year ago. Ninety-three percent believed the United States is worse off now than it was a year ago; 85% said the populations they serve are worse off; and 48% said their own organizations are in weaker financial positions.
These aren’t abstract assessments of academics. The organizations that responded to the survey are on the ground doing the work every day feeding families, providing healthcare, housing the unhoused, supporting immigrants, and educating young people. When they say things are worse, they mean it in the most concrete terms possible.
Immigration enforcement and food access came up most frequently. Seventy-four percent of respondents said the populations they work with have been negatively impacted by the loss of SNAP benefits. A third of open-ended responses described the impact of ICE actions on the communities nonprofits serve, and 30% cited fear, stress, and uncertainty, much of it also tied to immigration. One respondent said that clients are afraid to come pick up diapers because they fear ICE showing up. That’s the reality behind the data points.
Demand is up while resources are down
Here’s the painful gap at the heart of this report: 66% of nonprofits surveyed said while demand for their services is up, they have fewer resources to help. Organizations are simultaneously grappling with reduced funding, staffing challenges, and rising costs. Forty percent of organizations have increased the services or programs they’re offering, while 39% are also reducing or cutting back in other areas. Some organizations are doing both at once, scrambling to respond to one crisis while pulling back elsewhere.
The source of the problem is easy to see. Seventy percent of the nonprofits surveyed receive some form of federal funding, whether directly or through state and local government. When that funding is disrupted, delayed, or cut, the effects cascade quickly.
The in-house impact is real
This survey looked at organizational finances and asked about the people doing the work. More than half of respondents said what’s happening at the federal level has had a major negative impact on their staff. Just over a third of larger nonprofit organizations with 26 or more employees reported reducing staffing levels. Among BIPOC-led organizations, that number jumped to 73%.The nonprofit workforce is often drawn from the same communities they serve. When clients are fearful and struggling, staff frequently share that fear. It’s a weight that lingers long past the many hours they are on the job.
Resilience is also part of the story
What’s equally notable is that Massachusetts nonprofits are not standing still. Advocacy is on the rise: 48% of organizations are engaging more with government officials, and 47% are increasing their public outreach. New programs are being launched, partnerships are being formed, and organizations are drawing on what Jim Klocke of the Massachusetts Council of Nonprofits called “the muscle memory of the pandemic.” Nonprofits are using their hard-won knowledge of how to pivot fast when communities need them most.
At the event where the survey results were presented, Massachusetts Council of Nonprofits announced a new federal reform initiative that is a long-term effort to develop legislative proposals that would protect nonprofits and the communities they serve from the kind of rapid policy disruptions that have defined the past year.
What nonprofits need most
When asked what would help, the answer was clear and consistent: 78% of respondents identified more general operating support as one of their top three needs, followed by capacity building, better policy and regulation, and stronger government partnerships.
General operating support has always been the hardest money to raise. It keeps the lights on, letting organizations respond nimbly to community needs without being restricted to a single program or funder’s priority. In this environment, it may also be the most important.
For those of us who work alongside nonprofits to tell their stories, these findings are a reminder of why our work matters. The organizations in this survey aren’t just service providers. As Boston Foundation CEO Lee Pelton said at the event, “They are the infrastructure of care. This is the time when we need to stand for something.” Helping Massachusetts nonprofits communicate their value, share their impact, and raise support has never been more crucial.
