With the onset of the holiday season, the prospects of joy and good tidings are tempered by the reality that many of Connecticut’s charitable nonprofits have little to cheer about.
As the Hartford Business Journal has reported, the lingering recession has cut deeply into nonprofit revenues from corporations, individual giving and government funding during the past year.
The financial hits just seem to keep on coming, as major corporations in the region announce even more layoffs and state lawmakers retrench to make even deeper budget cuts to compensate for Connecticut’s latest deficit of $470 million.
It’s tough news that doesn’t bode well for nonprofits, which rely on government grants and donations, especially during the holiday season when charitable giving generally peaks.
Fewer contributions means that many nonprofits, already fiscally fragile and many without endowments or savings, may be forced to lay off employees, not replace open positions with new hires and eliminate programs and services.
Far more alarming is the prospect that nearly a third of the region’s nonprofits fear that they may go out of business next year, according to an annual survey conducted by the United Way of the Central and Northeastern Connecticut.
If you do the math, that’s a lot of organizations — about 630 of the 1,900 nonprofits in the region — that serve the needs of the residents in Greater Hartford.
The news got even grimmer a few weeks ago when new survey results were released by Washington-based World Vision, which reported that only 38 percent of Americans say they are more likely to give a charitable gift as a holiday present this year, compared with 49 percent last year.
It’s reasonable to expect that when many businesses are struggling to stay in the game and their employees have experienced pay cuts and worry about whether they will have a job in the near future, charitable giving will take a hit.
Economic indicators clearly indicate that the nation’s recession is not over. Financial hardships continue to burden businesses and their workers, evident by the state’s rising unemployment figures that recently hit 8.8 percent.
But it is necessary to remember that the contributions that nonprofits make to our communities and state are priceless. Their employees generally work long hours and at lower wages compared with many for-profit organizations. And they do it to make a difference in the lives of others. Businesses would pay more in taxes if not for the good work provided by nonprofits, which often fill in the gaps of government programs.
We owe nonprofits a debt of gratitude, and we need to dig deeper into our wallets even during these difficult times to help them survive during this economic downturn.
It won’t be easy. But the business community can try to help out a nonprofit this holiday season, either with an in-kind donation, by encouraging staff to volunteer or with a monetary donation.
Those who still earn a paycheck need to remember that individual giving is also very important. Every donation, big or small, matters. If writing a check isn’t financially feasible, perhaps a few grocery items given to the community food bank is possible.
Businesses should also do their part. Consider a gift to a local nonprofit or sponsoring a meal at one of the many local church-sponsored holiday dinners prepared for the needy.
It’s been said that a silver lining of this recession is that we’re all finding out what’s really important in life. Reaching out to help our fellow man is one gift that never goes out of season.
