The effect of the recession on the nonprofit sector is well-documented. Foundation endowments are down 25 to 30 percent, individual giving to nonprofits has slipped 20 percent from prior years, and state budgets have been slashed. GMA Foundations invited representatives from three of Boston’s leading management consulting organizations to discuss the changes they’ve seen in the nonprofit sector over the last six months. 

Speakers noted that the silver lining in the crisis is that nonprofit leaders are more open to discussing their options, their vulnerabilities, and the limitations of their current business models. The crisis has encouraged organizations to be much more open to exploring mergers, strategic partnerships, and organizational restructuring.

Panelists emphasized that their short-term objectives are to help organizations become more adept at developing budget projections, understand nonprofit capitalization, and balance programmatic and financial stability and sustainability.

Hedda Rublin, one of the principals at the Technical Development Corporation, pointed out that while the focus on budgeting, finance, and sustainable organizational models is critical, the sector has yet to take on the more difficult questions of mission, relevance, and impact that have been overlooked as nonprofits have proliferated over the past twenty years.

Speakers
Lisa Cawley, Vice President, Executive Service Corps of New England
Bethany Kendall, President, Executive Service Corps of New England
William Pinakiewicz, Director, New England Program, Nonprofit Finance Fund
Hedda Rublin, Principal, Technical Development Corporation