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Philanthropic organizations ride economic roller coaster
By Molly Parker
Staff Writer
Crisis Ministries’ soup kitchen has been busier than normal in the last few months while attendance at the nonprofit’s latest fundraiser waned along with the economy.
Tough economic times pose a vexing situation for social service agencies as an increasing number of people seek assistance while people inclined to give may hold on a little more tightly to their spare change.
“We do believe that’s because some lower-income families are coming here to save money on one meal because food stamps aren’t going up, but the price of groceries are,” said Nicole Bulone, the nonprofit’s community relations director.
About 150 people attended the organization’s annual “Food.Shelter.Hope” fundraiser at the Charleston Maritime Center in late April, down by about 50 attendees from last year.
“We do think that’s partially because of the economy and people just don’t have $75 to pay for a ticket for a special event,” Bulone said.
It is not atypical for organizations that rely on the goodwill of others to struggle when the economy is shaky, and even talk of a recession can make people nervous enough to cut back on spending and giving.
In late December, the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University reported that nationwide, charitable prospects were solid through the holiday season, but that many of the nonprofits surveyed predicted a slowdown in the spring.
“Prior research shows that human services nonprofits are among the first to see an increased demand for services when the economy slows,” said the center’s Executive Director Eugene Tempel in a prepared statement. “In those circumstances, such organizations often face declining financial support from households, foundations and corporations. Even though the economy is not in a recession, uncertain economic conditions may be of particular concern for these organizations.”
Climbing cost of staples
On top of declining charitable donations, philanthropic organizations face the same rising costs as everyone else for staple items, namely fuel. Crisis Ministries is fortunate in that it has continued to receive an ample supply of food from area grocers to support the nearly 200 men, women and children seeking a hot meal every day at its soup kitchen on upper Meeting Street.
Part of that bounty has to do with the fact that perishable food items are not moving as quickly off grocery store shelves as sticker prices jump, and those products in the end are donated to the soup kitchen, Bulone said.
But staff still has to pick up the produce, and Crisis Ministries spends nearly $5,000 a year on fuel to keep its “food rescue truck” running. In late April, it cost more than $4 a gallon for diesel fuel, Bulone said.
Jeremy Browning, executive director of Charleston Habitat for Humanity, said the local organization serving both Charleston and North Charleston has continued to steadily receive donations from corporations and churches, its bread-and-butter contributors.
But he has noticed a steady decline in unsolicited donations to the tune of nearly $2,000 to $3,000 less a month coming from individual givers or through memorials set up at a person’s death.
“A year or two ago, we’d get a check every week. Now we don’t really get any of those checks,” he said.
Browning is watching the approach of 2009 with a careful eye.
“I wonder if that’s when we’ll really see the impact,” he said. “But I try to remain optimistic. We’re paying a lot of attention in terms of our monthly revenues and expenses and we’re trying to be very careful with our spending habits so that we’re OK.”
On the flip side, the Habitat for Humanity resell stores are thriving, Browning said. He’s seen a steady stream of customers looking for home supply bargains, likely another consequence of economic conditions.
A bright spot or two
Yet not every nonprofit is struggling.
Trident United Way, arguably the area’s most well-known social service agency, has continued to break contribution records every single year, spokesman Barry Waldman said.
“So far the canaries in the coal mine are coming back,” he said.
Part of the continued growth is due to the fact that the organization receives sizable checks from corporations and individuals not likely to be immediately impacted by a downturn in the economy. Further, the Charleston economy has remained relatively strong with steady job growth, Waldman said.
“I don’t think we’ve seen a lot of layoffs or threats of layoffs so we’re not seeing a big impact,” he said. “We’re somewhat insolated from macroeconomic considerations because our evolving strategic approach has so inspired our donors, particularly our higher-end donors, that we have seen our contributions rise continuously for the last decade regardless of external economic conditions.”
Kevin Mills, president and CEO of the South Carolina Aquarium, is also humming the tune of the Lowcountry’s generosity.
“From our perspective, knock on wood, we haven’t experienced any adverse effects from the economic downturn,” he said.
In fact, donations for the Environmental Stewardships Awards Gala hosted by the aquarium in late April were up considerably from last year, he said. At $200,000, the aquarium received more than double what the event pulled in the first year.
Regular aquarium attendance was also up in the first quarter of the year, he said, despite the economy’s drag on discretionary spending.
“Maybe we’re not the fairest comparison,” he said. “We’ve intensified our fundraising efforts in professionalizing our staff and leadership and we are engaging the community in a more concerted way than ever.”
Jermaine Husser, executive director of the Lowcountry Food Bank, also has seen more monetary contributions coming in as of late.
“Currently, as far as charitable giving in this first quarter, we have not been down. We had a slight increase,” he said, “and it’s largely due to the tremendous effort of our team and being proactive, and having great friends who understand our mission and the transition we’ve been challenged with as far as the economy being so flat.”
Still, Husser said, the board of directors has kept a close eye on the economy, and the organization has acted in accordance with recent developments. For instance, because of the high price of fuel, instead of shipping in a variety of different products at the same time, the goal now is to bring in a large quantity of one product at a time to maximize efforts.
“We had to be a little bit more aggressive with direct mail and relooking at the items we may purchase, the amount of fuel we use, and really paying attention to those qualifying issues during the time period when everybody was talking about the economy,” Husser said of the organization that last year distributed roughly 10 million pounds of food to the
community.
Molly Parker is a staff writer at the Business Journal. E-mail her at mparker@scbiznews.com.
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