Nonprofit groups scramble for funds
As published in the May 5, 2011 edition of The Keene Sentinel, and online.
Among the bright decorations on the door to the Monadnock Community Early Learning Center in Peterborough is a yellow sign reminding visitors of the clothing collection bin in the center parking lot.
"We get $$ for every pound of clothing and shoes," it reads.
This friendly reminder is a sign of the times for the Monadnock Region's nonprofit social service agencies. As state and federal support falls victim to budget cuts, providers are turning to the local community and independent fundraising to make up the shortfall.
Like many other day care providers in the area, the Monadnock Community Early Learning Center charges fees on an income-based sliding scale. But recent changes to state child care assistance combined with the slowly recovering economy leaves the centers making up the difference for more families.
Most of the center's preschoolers are there for nine hours a day, while their parents are at work, according to Business Director Edna Coates. They're served breakfast, lunch and two snacks through the day, and teachers follow detailed lesson plans. This week, the 3-year-olds are practicing the letter "Q."
The center has recently frozen wages and suspended its money-losing infant program, Coates said.
"All of the organizations like us who are at least partially dependent on state and federal funding are finding it very, very difficult right now," said learning center board President Patricia A. Boyd.
Many are turning to the Monadnock United Way, now in the midst of calculating how it will allocate its funds for the year.
Requests from agencies are up about $100,000 this year, according to United Way President Kathy A. Harrington. The year-to-year increase is usually half that, she said. Anticipated drops in government support are a part of what's driving the increase in requests.
The United Way raised $2,200,334 this year to support local nonprofit agencies. This is an improvement from the $2,064,602 raised last year, but still less than the $2,296,208 the agency hoped to bring in.
"We're all sitting on the edge of our seats," Harrington said of the budget dramas unfolding in Concord and Washington. "It's just devastating to think about the potential funding cuts that these agencies are facing."
But with contributions down in recent years, the United Way will not be able to meet the entire need.
So agencies are doing more for themselves: cutting where they can, but also looking for new sources of funding to support their work.
Federal Department of Education and Health and Human Services support for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Western N.H. has disappeared, according to Peg Monahan, the agency's executive director. Federal sources provided more than a quarter of the agency's budget last year, she said.
"We will have to reduce the number of children we serve," Monahan said.
The organization, which matched 347 at-risk Monadnock Region children with mentors last year, has turned to the United Way and N.H. Charitable Trust for additional support. But it's also asking local business and individuals to dig a little deeper to support the program.
The agency raised about $19,000 through its annual "Bowl for Kids' Sake" fundraiser at Yankee Lanes Sunday, Monahan said.
The focus of the fundraiser has shifted over the past two years, according to board member Mary McEntee, who organizes the event. What was once primarily a chance for active "bigs and littles" to get together and socialize has become more about attracting outside money into the program's coffers.
"Last year we moved more towards an adult style of event," she said. "It's not that kids can't come, but we're shifting the focus from the matches to folks who aren't matched."
By targeting young professionals who aren't already investing time and movie-ticket money in the program as a mentor, the agency is boosting fundraising and possibly recruitment at the same time, McEntee said.
The Monadnock Learning Center is experimenting with small, local fundraisers, such as a February raffle for catering services for a home Super Bowl party that raised $2,500, according to Boyd.
The board of directors hopes to organize more events like this in the future, and also plans to write grant applications to help keep the center running.
And it's not just operating expenses that are taking a hit. An anticipated $300,000 federal allocation to build a child care center at the Keene Family YMCA's new facility won't be available after all, according to Development Director Elizabeth H. Coppola.
This means the Y will have to borrow more money to complete the project, she said. But the organization has also stepped up funding appeals, and recently sent out a mail appeal to almost 7,000 families. Volunteers are actively soliciting donations, Coppola said, and additional radio and newspaper campaigns are in the works.
"With that $300,000 gone, our fundraising goal hasn't changed, so we really will be looking to the community for charitable contributions to close that gap," she said.
tagged with: budget cuts, charities, economy, feature, fundraising, nonprofit funding, United Way
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