Nonprofit Sector Issues and Trends

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  Federal Impacts on Nonprofits: San Diego County Survey of Nonprofit Leaders

  Laura Deitrick, Tessa Tinkler, Bryan Cardenas, Richard Hurt, Nallely Manriques, and Timothy Nelson

  For decades, nonprofits have been key partners to the government, delivering vital services on its behalf. Beyond their social impact, San Diego nonprofits are integral to the local economy—not only as major employers but also through their contributions to health and welfare, arts and culture, education, and research and innovation, among other sectors.

  Research estimates that government funding accounts for 30% of nonprofit revenue. Our findings show that executive orders and other federal policy changes have a significant impact on nonprofits in our region, affecting a wide range of causes and missionsincluding:

  • Performing arts and museums
  • Education and in-and after-school programs
  • Health care
  • Independent/nonprofit media
  • Basic needs such as housing and food
  • Medical research
  • Local parks and outdoor spaces
  • Care and protection for the elderly, children, and other vulnerable populations

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  Reconnecting and Reengaging in 2021: Building Strong Nonprofit Teams for the Future

  The Nonprofit Institute at the University of San Diego

  Prepared on behalf of The Nonprofit Institute by Nonprofit Leadership and Management graduate students.

  Nonprofit organizations often operate within a good deal of uncertainty, even in good times. During a crisis, organizations may need to quickly implement changes. Nonprofit employers have had to retract, restore, and in some cases, reinvent their human capital management systems and processes to align with the new normal. This document, created by University of San Diego students studying LEAD 505: Developing Human Capital, offers some basic considerations and strategies for nonprofit organizations related to managing their workforce in times of crisis.

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  Unprecedented Disruption: COVID-19 Impact on San Diego Nonprofits

  Laura Deitrick, Tessa Tinkler, Emily Young, Connelly Meschen, Colton Strawser, Taylor Funderburk, and Tom Abruzzo

  Nonprofit organizations are often on the frontlines of crisis, serving as a critical partner to government in sustaining our community safety net and quality of life. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many local nonprofits are experiencing increased demands for services, yet have been hindered or completely cut off from responding due to stay at home orders, revenue loss, and physical distancing.

  In an effort to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on local nonprofits’ ability to meet their communities’ needs, The University of San Diego’s Nonprofit Institute has been surveying nonprofit leaders since March 2020.

  This report documents findings from the second survey of nonprofit leaders administered between April 21-27, 2020. A total of 381 nonprofit leaders representing both small and large nonprofits from a variety of subsectors responded to the second survey. While the survey was a convenience sample, the results are similar to the actual composition of the nonprofit sector except for an overrepresentation of arts and culture and environment and an underrepresentation of education. In terms of budget size, the smallest nonprofits (revenue under $50K) were underrepresented and the largest nonprofits (revenue $5 Million+) were overrepresented.

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  Nonprofit Sector Response to COVID-19

  Laura Deitrick, Tessa Tinkler, Emily Young, Colton C. Strawser, Connelly Meschen, Nallely Manriques, and Bob Beatty

  In an initial effort to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on local nonprofits’ ability to meet their community’s needs, The University of San Diego’s Nonprofit Institute issued a survey to nonprofit leaders on March 18, 2020. The aim of this report is to provide real-time data to government officials, foundations, and other decision-makers about the current economic conditions facing nonprofits and the need for immediate and long-term support in order to ensure the ongoing provision of critical services in the San Diego region.

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  2017 Two-Legged Stool: New Findings from California on Nonprofits and Overhead

  Nancy Berlin, Jan Masaoka, and Mary Jo Schumann

  Nonprofit overhead is a prevalent and controversial topic in the non- profit and philanthropic sector. Online raters (such as Charity Navigator) point to the overhead rate as a key indicator of nonprofit worthiness. Different govern- ment entities use wildly different indirect cost rates when contracting with nonprofits, which translate into billions of dollars of funding being gained or lost. Foundations rarely have explicit guidelines, but most have informal rules of thumb that affect how a nonprofit can use grant funds. Meanwhile, nonprofit executives struggle to make sense of it all as they manage their operations amidst the conflicting requirements of their funding sources. To gain insights into how overhead costs are handled in nonprofits, the California Association of Nonprofits (CalNonprofits) conducted a survey of 451 California nonprofit execu- tives, as well as interviews with elected members of county boards of super- visors and their staff throughout California in the spring of 2016. This paper reports on both of these, which were part of a larger initiative of CalNonprofits called The Nonprofit Overhead Project.

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  2017 Nonprofit Sector Employment Trends and Career Opportunities

  San Diego Workforce Partnership in partnership with The Nonprofit Institute

  The Nonprofit sector plays a critical, but often unseen role in supporting and promoting activities that improve the lives of county residents, filling gaps in critical social services when needed. This study aims to inform the workforce development system—educational training institutions, Workforce Development Boards and community workforce development organizations—on how to best prepare the future workforce for this sector. The full report analyzes data on job growth, training gaps, hiring challenges and in-demand skills from firms in the Nonprofit sector.

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  2011 National Nonprofit Employment Trends Survey

  Caster Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research, University of San Diego

  The 2011 national Nonprofit Employment Trends Survey™ is intended to provide a snapshot of current employment practices and discuss the economic trends and implications of employment practices in the sector. This report, which has been produced annually by Nonprofit HR Solutions since 2007, includes responses from more than 450 nonprofits nationwide.