Foundation Response to Downturn Does Little for Nonprofits

A new report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) finds that nonprofits do not perceive funders to have communicated their responses to the economic downturn clearly, if at all. They also report that funders have offered them little useful help in responding to the challenges of the downturn.

CEP began asking grantees about their funders’ communications and helpfulness in response to the downturn in the last half of 2009. A Time of Need: Nonprofits Report Poor Communication and Little Help from Foundations During the Economic Downturn analyzes data gathered from surveys of over 6,000 grantees of 37 foundations.

• Thirty percent of grantees indicated that there was no communication from their funders about their own response to the economic climate, and of those that did report receiving communication, 22 percent indicate that the funder’s response was unclear.

The full report is available at effectivephilanthropy.org.