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How did the economic downturn effect the state of non for profit jobs (Click here)?

That was the question posed by "Human Service Nonprofits and Government Collaboration," a recent report from the Urban Institute based on findings from the 2010 National Survey of Nonprofit Government Contracting and Grants.

Many nonprofit organizations receive a large portion of their funding from the government, and because the government was having its own funding problems during the economic recession, several organizations had to reduce services and cut jobs in order to stay afloat.

The report takes an in-depth look at the contracts and grants the government has with nonprofits, as well as how those organizations were affected by the recession, how they dealt with declining revenues, and how their relationships with the government affected their budget problems.

Key findings of the report include:

• Government agencies have about 200,000 contracts and grants with about 33,000 nonprofits.
• Government funding accounts for more than 65 percent of those organizations' total revenue.
• Of the nonprofits with government agreements, 60 percent consider those contracts to be their largest source of funding.
• About 64 percent of organizations said their experience with the government was the same in 2009 as in previous years, while 31 percent said it was worse, and only 5 percent said it was better.
• About 68 percent of nonprofits said they had a problem with the government not paying the full cost of their contract and 53 percent said they were receiving late payments.
• More than 50 percent of organizations saw declining revenues from state government, donations, and investments.
• About 42 percent of nonprofits ended 2009 with a deficit, causing 50 percent of those to freeze or reduce salaries, 39 percent to use reserves, 38 percent to make layoffs, 23 percent to reduce benefits, 22 percent to use more credit, 21 percent to reduce services, and 17 percent to serve fewer people.

Labels: Non for profit jobs