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Nonprofits Gear Up for New Year

By Beacon Staff

The recession lowered many bottom-lines across the country, but 2009 hit nonprofit and social services organizations with two hammers: Financial resources started dropping while demand for services went up, causing many agencies to tighten their already snug belts.

For several nonprofits in the Flathead, 2010 offers familiar fiscal challenges as well as opportunities to meet the higher need accrued during the last year. And, according to leaders in the nonprofit community, it will also be a year of positive thinking and community building.

Ned Cooney, program director for the Nonprofit Development Partnership and owner of a consulting company, said nonprofit organizations often experience lagging recovery times, following behind the rest of the country. And since the country has yet to see a strong economic rebound, 2010 could be another tough year for nonprofits, Cooney said.

But despite financial challenges, the recession could provide a silver lining, because it presents nonprofits with the opportunity to focus on improving their main services, Cooney said.

“When there’s a lot of opportunity, it’s easy to get away from your mission or go off on some tangents that aren’t necessarily serving your core purposes,” Cooney said.

At the Nurturing Center in Kalispell, Executive Director Eileen Donohoue is facing a well-known fundraising battle. Investments and revenue streams are down at many of the foundations that the center depends on for basic funding, Donohue said.

“That impacts what we can count on from foundation support,” Donohoue said.

Private donations are also down a little from last year, but Donohoue said the influx the center received after founder and former director Susan Christofferson passed away last February helped boost the level of personal donations.

“Sometimes other people fill in when some people can’t give,” Donohoue said.

The Nurturing Center will focus largely on parenting programs in 2010, Donohoue said, and many programs are expected to come back at “full bore” after being reduced last year.

“I have a very positive outlook. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t,” Donohoue said. “Times can get tough but we’re a strong community and we’ll weather that out.”

Sherry Stevens Wulf, executive director of the local United Way, said fundraising efforts are better this year than they were last year, which was financially flat and included some losses. This year, agencies are at least seeing some increases, but there is still a need to meet increased demand, Stevens Wulf said.

Agencies within United Way saw 30 to 45 percent increases in requests for services, primarily in basic needs and youth services, Stevens Wulf said. The agency’s main fundraising campaign, which began last fall and will end on Feb. 28, has an $850,000 goal to fund services in 2010.

“We’re being optimistic that the community will respond in a positive way,” Stevens Wulf said. “We’re really hoping to be able to continue fundraising.”

Stevens Wulf also noted that continued development at the Discovery Community Center will help reduce budgets and overhead costs by housing nonprofit agencies in the same area. Five agencies, including the Flathead Food Bank, have already moved in, she said, and the food court, which is also a fundraising effort, is open.