Jose M. Peralta
Keller University
PA571 – Nonprofit Organization Management
Kevin Hume
February 18, 2011
The Future of Non-Profits
“The once-booming nonprofit sector is in the midst of a shakeout, leaving many Americans without services and culling weak groups from the strong. Hit by a drop in donations and government funding in the wake of a deep recession, nonprofits—from arts councils to food banks—are undergoing a painful restructuring, including mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, cutbacks and closings” (Banjo and Kalita, 2010). The article quotes Diana Aviv, chief executive of the Independent Sector, "Like in the animal kingdom, at some point, the weaker organizations will not be able to survive." …show more content…
There is a clear understanding that immediate answers are not available and there is much growing pain for the future of nonprofits. But smaller nonprofits will be swallowed up by larger, more established ones. His reasoning, “in the midst of this struggle, larger “brand name” nonprofits may seek greater market share through muscular fundraising machinery and carve up territory that will in some cases undermine the self-direction and survival of smaller, community-based entities…In this institutional melee, citizens may be left out of the equation, even though they have a legitimate claim to involvement because they subsidize the sector’s tax status” (p. …show more content…
A withering winterland. According to Light, the more probable of the scenarios. This future has the entire nonprofit sector suffering, feeling the pinch of the economic recession and falling short of the past highs. This will be culminated with nonprofits not receiving the governmental support as in the past and donors not offering as much as before.
With the lowered donations by government and corporations, employment will suffer as nonprofits, no matter the size, will have to reconsider the numbers of employees they will have on their books. Dwindling finances will cut the fat from nonprofits adding more unemployed to unemployment. 3. An arbitrary winnowing. In this scenario, a rebalancing toward larger, richer, and fewer organizations is the likely scenario. Some nonprofits will fold and others will prosper as donations make their way to the more established nonprofits. Organizations that cannot do not have strong community ties, are not relying on donations and support from the local community and cannot make up the lost funds may merge with larger organizations, be acquired or simply just