The Economy’s Effect on Fundraisers

For those that award grants, did the total amount of money your organization awarded increase, decrease or stay about the same?

• 40 percent said it stayed about the same
• 31 percent said it decreased
• 28 percent said it increased
• 2 percent were unsure

Of the respondents that award grants, 8 percent greatly increased the amount of money awarded; 20 percent increased modestly the amount of grant money; 10 percent decreased the amount greatly; and 20 percent decreased it modestly.

Did the economy cause you to change your grantmaking practices?

• 62 percent — No, we made no major changes
• 12 percent — Yes, we cut back on the types of programs we funded
• 11 percent — Other
• 8 percent — Yes, we reduced the amount of payouts we had committed to
• 6 percent — Yes, we increased our grantmaking specifically to help grantees cope with the economy
• 4 percent — Yes, we only accepted applications from organizations that we have funded before
• 4 percent — Yes, we stopped accepting grant applications
• 1 percent — Yes, we did not make payouts we had committed to
• 2 percent — Unsure

Did the number of funding applications/grant requests increase, decrease or stay about the same?

• 44 percent said the number stayed about the same
• 41 percent said the number increased
• 9 percent said the number decreased
• 6 percent were unsure

Of the responders, 12 percent said the number increased greatly, and 29 percent said it increased modestly; 2 percent said it decreased greatly, and 7 percent said it decreased modestly.

How does your 2010 annual budget compare to 2009?

• 41 percent said their budgets increased — 7 percent said budget increased greatly, 34 percent said it increased modestly
• 29 percent said it decreased — 9 percent said it decreased greatly, 20 percent said it decreased modestly
• 28 percent said it stayed about the same
• 1 percent were unsure

What measures have you used to reduce your budget?

• 58 percent — Reduce activities/services
• 50 percent — Salary freeze
• 38 percent — Layoffs
• 30 percent — Hiring freeze
• 23 percent — Reduction in employee benefits
• 21 percent — Salary reduction
• 18 percent — Other
• 16 percent — Reduce operating hours
• 12 percent — Restructure organizations or merger

Has your total numbers of volunteers increased, decreased or stayed about the same?

• 48 percent said the number of volunteers stayed about the same
• 32 percent said it increased — 6 percent said it increased greatly, 26 percent said it increased modestly
• 10 percent don’t have volunteers
• 9 percent said the number of volunteers decreased — 2 percent said it decreased greatly, 7 percent said it decreased modestly
• 1 percent were unsure

Did you use volunteers in positions that were formerly paid positions?

• 71 percent said no
• 17 percent said yes
• 10 percent are run entirely by volunteers
• 1 percent were unsure

Did your organization receive any state or federal grants or contracts?

• 60 percent said no
• 38 percent said yes
• 1 percent were unsure

Is your organization in imminent danger of folding due to financial reasons?

• 88 percent said no
• 8 percent said yes
• 4 percent were unsure

To learn about the economy's effect on fundraisers and download the report, click here.