Charity Navigator, June 29, 2009:

"Eighty percent of nonprofit organizations are experiencing fiscal stress according to a survey released today by Johns Hopkins University, and close to 40 percent of them reported that this stress was “severe” or “very severe.” Theaters and orchestras were particularly hard hit, with nearly 75 percent of the former and half of the latter reporting “severe” or “very severe” stress.

Contributing to this stress has been a perfect storm of impacts including declining revenues (51 percent of organizations); increased costs, particularly for health benefits; declining endowments; and decreased cash flow as a result of restricted credit and government payment delays.

The 363 organizations that participated in the survey as part of the Johns Hopkins Nonprofit Listening Post differ widely in size, cover all regions, and represent a diverse array of fields, including children and family services, elderly services and housing, community development, education, arts and culture, and others.

Despite the dire challenges, more than two-thirds of the organizations indicated that they have been “successful” or “very successful” in coping with the current fiscal crisis. This is consistent with experience in prior recessions, during which nonprofits boosted employment while for-profit employment declined. This suggests that nonprofits are a counter-cyclical force in the economy."

Read more: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=922

The full text of the report “Impact of the 2007-09 Economic Recession on Nonprofit Organizations” is available online at http://www.ccss.jhu.edu/ .