posted on: Thursday, July 08, 2010

By Yna C. Moore

We’re beyond any doubt that the nonprofit sector has taken a severe blow from the recession. In “Adapting to Changed Times” (Responsive Philanthropy, winter 2009/2010), Kathleen Enright, president and CEO of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) notes some stark numbers:

• Only 12 percent of nonprofits expected to operate above breakeven this year
• Just 16 percent of nonprofits anticipated being able to cover the operating expenses in 2009 and 2010
• 31 percent of nonprofits have less than 30 days cash on hand

She looks at the importance of general operating support in developing and enhancing a nonprofit’s capacity to adapt to difficult and changing environments.

“Nonprofits with access to flexible dollars and financial reserves are much better equipped to weather economic downturns and adapt successfully to other changes in the environment,” she writes.

Ms. Enright calls on the philanthropic sector to “normalize” general operating support grants as a concrete way “not to just enable nonprofits to meet today’s priorities, but to provide support in a way that lets them build strong organizations for tomorrow.”

Read Kathleen Enright’s “Adapting to Changed Times.”

View articles from past issues of Responsive Philanthropy.

Do you think that general operating support will ever be as widely used and accepted as program grants are among foundations? Please share your thoughts in comments.

Yna C. Moore is communications director at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP).