Fascinated by this report on the state of nonprofits, produced by the Center for Effective Philanthropy.
Our top takeaways, aligned with each of the three key findings:
1. Concerns about burnout are persistent —we have seen this first-hand—but the survey says there are no signs of this trend abating. In fact a growing number of leaders reported their own burnout in addition to awareness that their staff wellbeing is affected by burnout. Yikes.
2. We were surprised that the survey respondents reported financial stability—funder levels are consistent and many have had budget surpluses. This seems at odds with anecdotal accounts and our own experience with nonprofit clients. Perhaps it is because funding cycles often span several years so the impact may take longer to see? Or maybe staffing shortages are driving savings (but increasing burnout)? Some of the data suggests foundations have stepped up—but we’ll need to dive in deeper to understand this finding.
3. We are heartened by the third key finding, which shows efforts by founders to ease admin burdens on their grantees through streamlined processes for grant making and impact tracking. But the report also says that about a third of respondents said their foundation funders have either no commitments or declining or sunset commitments to advancing racial equity. That is no good. Are foundations bowing to political pressure?
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