As nonprofits across the state help Ohioans get back on their feet after the pandemic, they continue to face significant internal challenges.
To take the measure of the nonprofit environment, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office has partnered with the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations, Philanthropy Ohio and researchers at The Ohio State University’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs and Bowling Green State University. The resulting Ohio Nonprofit COVID-19 Survey is an ongoing effort to support Ohio’s nonprofit organizations through this difficult time in history.
The
latest round of the survey, administered in April, documented several important trends:
- The median nonprofit has seen revenue fall 21% from before the COVID-19 pandemic.
- A majority of nonprofits that focus on the arts are facing significant struggles. Nearly 40% of the arts organizations that responded to the survey reported providing services at lower rates than before the pandemic and 22% more reported they are not providing services at all.
- Many organizations said they are working hard to get employees vaccinated. The survey found 77% of Ohio’s nonprofit employers are encouraging their staff to do so.
The overwhelming support for vaccinations was somewhat surprising, but made sense given their missions, Ohio State researchers Dr. Erynn Beaton, Elizabeth Colchin and Yinglin Ma and Bowling Green researcher Dr. Abhishek Bhati said in their latest report on the survey.
“One of the most important roles of nonprofits is to bring people together, whether it be for worship, volunteering, fundraising or fellowship,” Beaton said. “Some nonprofit leaders responding to the survey conveyed a sense of responsibility for potential transmission at their gatherings. For this reason, some are still holding off on in-person events until vaccination rates are higher.”
The most recent survey is the third time since the start of the pandemic that the responses from Ohio’s charitable sector have been tracked since the beginning of the pandemic.
The survey has addressed challenges with fundraising, governance and provision of services many charities have faced, as well as the changes organizations have made throughout the pandemic. Partners involved in the survey have been widely sharing the results with charitable funders and policymakers interested in the needs of the sector. The most recent survey report can be found here, as well as a webinar that outlines the most significant findings. Prior survey reports and summaries can also be found here.