Government cuts and rising demand for services are presenting challenges to many non-profits, among them the Vermont Foodbank.
In its annual appeal for donations the food bank says it needs to raise $1 million by Dec. 31.
CEO John Sayles says it isn’t unusual for the Vermont Foodbank to issue a year-end plea for donations because this is the peak of the giving season. Nor is it unusual for the organization to cite an ever increasing demand for its services.
“If you look at the history of the economy and how people at the lower rungs of the economic ladder have been doing, it has not been good,” says Sayles. “The food banks across the country have all had to deal with increasing needs.”
What is different this year, he says, is the impact of cuts in federal funding for 3SquaresVT. The program serves 100,000 people and Sayles says the Nov. 1 cuts have already reduced benefits for Vermonters by $10 million.
He says there is also the looming prospect of cuts for food assistance contained in a new farm bill.
The Vermont Foodbank’s operating budget this year is $6.5 million. Sayles says 70 percent of the budget comes from donations. He says 90 percent of the money raised is spent on delivering food and the programs operated by the foodbank.
Sayles says several years ago the food bank was unable to meet fundraising goals and was forced to downsize staff and reduce benefits for employees.
Many other non-profits are also banking on Vermonters’ generosity at this time of year.
In terms of the per-capita number of non-profits of all stripes, Vermont may top all other states, according to Stuart Comstock-Gay, president and CEO of the Vermont Community Foundation.
“It’s a sign of how Vermonters believe they can do things. They’re entrepreneurial in lots of different ways, including creating non-profits. ‘Hey, I’ve got an idea, let’s go do this thing,' ” he says.
A 2011 report by the community foundation says Vermont has more than 4,000 non-profits. Most are small: 45 percent of the state’s non-profits have operating budgets of less than $100,000.
Comstock-Gay says the level of individual donations on which many of them rely have recovered somewhat from the recession, but giving levels remain flat.
He says especially for groups with social missions, an increasing demand for their services comes at a time when donations are tepid and government funds are in decline.
“When we surveyed non-profits two years ago they said, we’re having more demand but we’re going to find a way to do this. Today if you ask the organizations again they say, ‘we’re having even more demand and we’re not as sure we’re going to be able to find ways to cover it going forward,' ” Comstock-Gay says.
He says some non-profits are merging for better economies of scale, and others are downsizing to make up for a shortfall in funds.
