Nonprofit Financial Health Research Study 2021
Surveys conducted by: Finn Partners
Over the years, we have made substantial investments to stay in tune with the nonprofit industry and the impacts to our communities, particularly so we can share with our customers as thought leaders in the nonprofit technology space. For our 2021 research, unlike our previous studies, we started this research with a goal to better reflect and understand how the environment and economic crisis of 2020 have impacted organizations, and how those impacts alter or changed what is most important heading into 2021. How are nonprofit finance professionals considering the changes they need to take in 2021 to make it a resilient year? What impact did the pandemic make on revenue streams, programs and mission?
What challenges were faced with fundraising and donor dollars and grantors? What perspectives changed in technology considerations due to the difficult year? What are the plans for the next 12-18 months going forward?
The overall responses of this survey show a path of resilience even with the impact of a global pandemic in 2020. We see how respondents were able to pivot quickly and efficiently to create new funding opportunities in virtual events, as well as pro-actively establish goals for new grants. Over 70% of respondents noted identifying new funding and revenue sources were goals in 2020 and going into the next 12-18 months. With this set of questions, we surveyed over 200 nonprofit professional leaders. We also chose a few questions that were included in our last research, so we could measure what changes happened since our last full study in 2018.
What we found is good news in resiliency, revenue growth, and new funding streams:
• Over half of respondents expect revenue growth in the next 12-18 months. • Nonprofits found innovative ways to adapt quickly with virtual fundraising, more grant opportunities, and joining with other nonprofits for collaboration. • 73% of respondents plan to apply for PPP Loans, Cares Act Funding in 2021.
We also discovered new shifts in mission, technology, and grant reporting needs:
• Demand for more frequent and more detailed grant reporting. • Increased focus (from 2018 report) on new technology needs, and moving to cloud. • Over 54% nonprofits noted need to submit financial information to six grantors or more on a monthly basis. • 91% of those surveyed worked from home due to coronavirus in 2020 and 55% plan to continue in 2021. _________________________________________________________________________
Our survey was conducted online in December 2020 and January 2021 in collaboration with Finn Partners. We surveyed N=236 nonprofit financial professionals across verticals including social services, education, healthcare, human services, government, public and societal benefit. Eighteen percent of respondents were under 40, forty-two percent between ages 40-55, and thirty-six percent age 56+.
In some instances, in this report we also reflect findings in comparison to our 2018 survey, as well as breakdown the response data to show how perceptions vary by generational and organizational size.
Let’s move to the key findings from this 2021 Nonprofit Financial Health Study: Path to Resiliency