Nonprofits seek to strike balance in post-pandemic normal

By Michael Crumb

Nonprofit organizations will have to strike a balance between using the technology they’ve learned as they transitioned programming and fundraising online because of the coronavirus pandemic and what they hope will be a return to more in-person events as they move forward into a new year, organizers said.

Tray Wade, president and CEO of EveryStep, said he sees technology being more of “an and,” rather than part of a hybrid model for nonprofits as they continue to evolve.

“I think we’ll do both,” Wade said. “I don’t think we’ll ever go back to ‘let’s not leverage technology anymore, that was purely a stopgap measure during the pandemic.’ ”

Wade said everyone wants to return to some sense of normalcy, whether it be in the services they provide or in engaging with donors.

“I think there will always be in the nonprofit world a space for people who want to get together and hear directly from you and have that common mission that brings you together, and we’re longing for the day we can get back to that,” said Wade, whose agency provides services ranging from hospice to wellness care, grief support, care and support for families, interpretation, and home care. 

“This is better than the absence of services completely,” Wade said of virtual programming. “But … we also need to strive for the solution of how we’re going to best bridge the two together and utilize technology going forward in perpetuity. And yet, still at a core, we’ll need to reconnect with those folks, both our donors, our clients, our families.”

Angela Dethlefs-Trettin, chief community impact officer for the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines, said the nonprofit sector has been focused on its mission while “figuring out how they can best pivot operations to still remain true to mission.”

“That is a very difficult space for many nonprofits to move into because they’re seeing a surge in needs and not always the availability of the added resources, so they’re trying to find balance as best as possible,” she said. 

Data from the United Way of Central Iowa shows that about one-quarter of the 145 programs offered by its 78 funding partners are operating at over 100% capacity.

According to a survey by the University of Northern Iowa’s Business and Community Services, nonprofit organizations surveyed between May 20 and 29 responded that they had experienced revenue losses of about 40% in April and May, with employment losses of about 22% in those months.

The survey also showed that nonprofits projected continued revenue and employment losses in June (36%, 17.5%) and July (33%, 15%).

Drew Conrad, who spearheaded the survey and is the director of the Institute for Decision Making at UNI, said two more surveys are planned for early in 2021.

Something that will be closely watched, Conrad said, will be how the virus evolves and its continued effect on how nonprofits operate.

“A lot of nonprofits, their volunteer base are older individuals, and they’re being more cautious and not volunteering as much,” he said. “A lot of fundraisers have been canceled, or they’ve had to change how they do them. We’re operating under the assumption that revenue is down. You hope that giving is up, but still, most nonprofits are dependent on a variety of revenue streams.”

Conrad said he doesn’t see a “silver bullet” that will help nonprofits navigate out of the pandemic.

“When are we going to get back to normal? Will we ever get back to normal? That’s the question,” he said. “How do we adapt? How do we change what we’re doing? Is it time to make decisions to drop some things we’ve been doing in the past and adapt what we’re doing moving forward?”

That uncertainty remains a major challenge for nonprofits as they look ahead to 2021, said Kristi Knous, president of the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines. 

“Things are moving so quickly, but as you look forward [you] don’t know if there’s an end in sight, or when the end will be in sight,” Knous said. “It’s sort of like, when will I be able to have an [in-person] fundraising event, because the non-events — and we’ll see how this all plays out — aren’t raising the kind of money you were having with live galas or that sort of thing.”

Knous said the reality is setting in that funding streams may be disrupted for “quite some time.”

“While it’s moving at lightning speeds in some regards, it’s increasingly apparent that this is a long game,” she said.

While some nonprofits, such as Winefest and Variety – the Children’s Charity of Iowa, have adapted live fundraisers into virtual events, that transition may be a tough sell in the long haul, Knous said.

“Initially, our nonprofit community didn’t know quite how to adapt to that, and now you’re seeing more creative things coming about, but that’s a hard pill to swallow when you’re having to adapt all of your programming and then have to consider, we had this planned event and now we have to call it off and how you’re going to handle that,” Knous said.

Knous acknowledged that virtual events can expand a group’s reach and maybe draw in donors who otherwise would not be able to attend a live event.

“But we anticipate fully that people are going to want to come back together,” she said. “We also think there will be strategies around technology where we can keep that offering open for those who want to attend in a different way. I think we’re going to find a blend that looks really different than anything we’ve had before, but most likely will be better.”

Michelle Rich, community impact officer with the United Way of Central Iowa, agreed that expectations for online campaigns are lower than for in-person events.

“I think it’s hard to substitute an in-person gala, or something like Reggie’s Sleepout; it’s really hard to recreate that virtually,” Rich said. “So, I imagine … that we have to be much more conservative in our forecasting for the campaign and our fundraising events.”

Rich said while virtual campaigns can draw a broader audience, they lack personal engagement.

“I think we’re going to have to figure out how to make it a good substitute for in-person.”

EveryStep’s signature Art of Compassion fundraiser was moved to an at-home house party format this year, where people could invite small numbers of guests into their home for dinner and to participate in the event.

While ticket sales were still going on at press time, Wade said initial numbers showed dollars from sponsors were about the same as 2019, but participation was significantly down. In 2019, there were about 350 people who participated in the live event. As of the writing of this story, only about 150 had signed up.

Wade said feedback indicated people were still not comfortable inviting too many people into their homes, and instead were only participating with spouses, significant others and close family.

Despite challenges facing nonprofits in moving programming and fundraising online, donor interest in the needs of the community has grown, Knous said.

The website givedsm.org saw a 173% increase in users, increasing from 850 users in 2019 to more than 2,300 in the same six months this year, she said.

“That tells me they are still hungry for information and to know how they can support our community, and they’re using that technology to help them get connected,” Knous said.

While the foundation may not always know the results of fundraising by local groups, giving from the foundation’s Donor Advised Fund increased nearly 40% this year over last year through June 30. Knous said she expects that support to continue through the end of 2020.

Wade’s organization saw a 10% drop in revenue, or about $200,000, in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2020. EveryStep did not have to cut programming or staff, but staff did have to pick up extra duties as volunteer services were shut down because of the pandemic.

While EveryStep can weather the decline for a year or two, it could have an effect on the agency’s ability to maintain the same level of services moving forward. If it doesn’t rebound and lower revenues become the new normal, tough decisions would have to be made, he said.

“That’s where you have to pay attention to strategies, and how do we offset it,” Wade said. “We would have to look at the ability for us to not turn anyone away. We’d have to look at services, and how we do differently, how do we not do it at all, or how we do it more efficiently? It would just be the reality.”

Rich said nonprofits also face increased costs because of technology needed to move programming online and mileage as staff makes more visits to people’s homes because people aren’t willing to be in a group environment.

Rich said while so much has changed in recent months because of the pandemic, there is one thing nonprofits all have in common.

“Everyone has seen a change in program modification,” Rich said. “I don’t think there’s any partner that’s doing their work exactly the same. It’s all changed.”