Restart Montco - Nonprofits

Nonprofits in Montgomery County

Nonprofit organizations are being severely tested during these challenging times. While demand for the services and assistance they offer has grown significantly, their own organizational ability to navigate today’s operational challenges—financial, staffing, etc.—has created simultaneous pressures. In an effort to better understand how the county’s nonprofits are being impacted and what assistance they might need, MCPC offered a virtual roundtable discussion with nonprofit leaders from various sectors including social service, housing, education, environmental, arts, and faith organizations. This gathering proved to be a worthwhile exchange both for county staff to learn from these leaders and also for the leaders to share their challenges, experiences, and successes with one another—including a loud call for better computer equipment and communitywide Wi-Fi.  

Resources

Websites

• HealthSpark Foundation
  HealthSpark’s mission is to invest in nonprofit organizations, networks, and coalitions to promote a more just and healthy community throughout Montgomery County. In April 2020, the foundation immediately began focusing on the pandemic’s impacts. Together with over 100 community groups, nonprofits, civic leaders, and others, the foundation created A Blueprint for Building Back a Better Safety Net System. The blueprint focuses on six opportunities for action and recommended action steps to create a more resilient safety net system.
• Help for Nonprofits During the Coronavirus and Uncertain Economic Times
  The Chronicle of Philanthropy provides an extensive list of articles and advice geared to help nonprofits respond to impacts of the pandemic on their workers, volunteers, fundraising, and finances.
• Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations (PANO)
  PANO is a statewide membership organization that supports over a thousand Pennsylvania nonprofits. It provides many resources related to COVID-19, such as funding sources, training, pending legislation, financial planning, and tools for recovery, including a five-part webinar series hosted in partnership with The Think Good Company. Additionally, PANO has collected statewide data regarding impacts of the pandemic on nonprofits.

Articles

• Providing a Pandemic Safety Net, Nonprofits Need Their Own.
  Tens of thousands of nonprofits that provide for social services, medical care, and spiritual needs are likely to close due to financial pressures and many have been forced to lay off or furlough employees.
• As Donations Shift in the Pandemic, New Databases Aim to Help.
  Many foundations have quickly shifted their missions toward addressing the pandemic and social justice issues as well as increasing the amount of their overall giving.
• Nonprofits in trouble: One-third of organizations may not survive pandemic, recession.
  Demand for nonprofit services has skyrocketed while nonprofit organizations themselves struggle to stay afloat.
• Nonprofits Struggle to Stay Alive Amid COVID-19.
  It is challenging for many nonprofits to maintain a sustainable business model even during normal times, and now with the added challenges of the pandemic, many may not be able to survive.
• Nonprofit Service Continuity and Responses in the Pandemic: Disruptions, Ambiguity, Innovation, and Challenges.
  Data collected from websites and interviews reveals how nonprofits have responded to the challenges through adaptations and innovations.   
• Fiscal Responses to COVID-19: Evidence from Local Governments and Nonprofits.
  Fiscal impacts of the pandemic based on surveys distributed to nonprofit organizations.   

Funding Sources

• COVID-19 Funding Sources for Nonprofits
  PANO provides information on federal, state, local, and philanthropic funding sources.
• Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic: Private Nonprofit Organizations
  Funding is available for private nonprofit organizations through FEMA’s Public Assistance program.
  
  
  
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