In 2010, FCI conducted a more in-depth survey, 2010 Wisconsin Nonprofit Economic Impact Report, to understand how nonprofits continued to overcome the biggest challenge of all- namely, how to serve more constituents with fewer resources. We surveyed four areas: future outlook funding; cash flow and capital; organizational capacity and collaborative readiness.

“In these tough economic times, it is admirable that nonprofits are demonstrating a strong future commitment to the people of Wisconsin,” said Salli Martyniak, Forward Community Investments president. “We don’t always recognize that nonprofits contribute to the quality of our daily lives, but they do. Whether they shelter the homeless, care for our aging population, educate our children or contribute to the arts.”

Based on a representative sample of Wisconsin nonprofits, along with one-on-one interviews with nonprofit leaders, we discovered:

• Three-quarters of nonprofits were feeling financially healthy, yet, more than half felt vulnerable about their organization’s future.
• Many nonprofits were taking measures to adapt their service models to better achieve their missions.
• Cash flow problems related to last year’s downturn have increased; this does not bode well for the fates of troubled nonprofits.
• Nonprofits with cash problems tend to gravitate towards a “do nothing” strategy which puts them in a weak position.
• For nonprofit leaders to succeed, the value of organizational capacity building is more important than ever before.
• Significantly more nonprofits reported engaging in collaborative activities; 55% in 2009 versus 90% in 2010.

---

Agency: Forward.Community.Investments
Year: 2011
Download: http://www.forwardci.org/wp-content/uploads/2010-NPO-Survey1.pdf