Statewide Iowa — A survey of dozens of nonprofit organizations across western Iowa and Nebraska finds many are still feeling the financial impacts of the pandemic after already losing millions of dollars in the past year.
Hannah Young, spokeswoman for the Nonprofit Association of the Midlands, says their Nonprofit Pulse Poll shows the nonprofit sector is stabilizing in the two states, though the future remains uncertain.
Mergers of nonprofits that offer similar services isn’t necessarily a bad thing, Young says, as two could emerge as a stronger one. Still, the survey found nonprofits surveyed anticipate losing more than 15-million dollars combined this year due to COVID-19, an average of nearly 100-thousand dollars per agency.
Compared to a poll a year ago, the newest survey found 16-percent of nonprofits feel less financially stable than last year, and about six-percent report they are in financial crisis. Even with all of the challenges the pandemic presented, Young says some positives have come out of COVID as well, like expanding services, increased collaboration, and the rise of virtual programming and training.
Many of the non-profits surveyed project it will be one to two years before they’re again operating at pre-COVID levels.
