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Pennsylvania’s nonprofits are fraying in the face of the coronavirus onslaught

Pennsylvania's nonprofit charities are seeing sharp declines in revenues and increases in demand for food, shelter, and other basic necessities.

Members of the 128th Brigade Support Battalion of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard work loading boxes of food into cars at a distribution for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, Monday, April 20, 2020, in Duquesne, Pa. The food bank has seen a sharp increase in need since statewide shutdowns of nonessential businesses in the COVID-19 pandemic. (Darrell Sapp/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)
Members of the 128th Brigade Support Battalion of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard work loading boxes of food into cars at a distribution for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, Monday, April 20, 2020, in Duquesne, Pa. The food bank has seen a sharp increase in need since statewide shutdowns of nonessential businesses in the COVID-19 pandemic. (Darrell Sapp/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)Read moreDarrell Sapp / AP

A survey of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on nonprofit groups across Pennsylvania paints an alarming picture of increased demand for food, shelter, clothing, and other necessities, and a flagging ability of safety-net charities to keep pace, according to the results released Tuesday.

As fund-raising events have been canceled, donations have dried up, and program fees have vanished, a large majority of the 190 survey respondents (71%) from every Pennsylvania county projected a collective revenue shortfall of $42 million and counting.

The charities surveyed by the Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations, a Harrisburg-based service group, cover the range of nonprofit activities from food banks to community arts programs.

Nearly half the charities, whose budgets range in size from about $500,000 to more than $20 million, reported increased demands for services that have strained operations and raised the specter and the reality of furloughs and layoffs.

The increasing need and the shrinking capacity have led to a bitter reality: Two-thirds of the 190 groups reported that more than 800,000 clients had seen a reduction in services. Those services, according to 211 assistance calls to the United Way over the last three days, include providing such fundamental help as finding or maintaining shelter, keeping utilities in service, and lining up employment and food.

“There will always be a need for food, shelter, and clothing. They’re the basic needs that people have,” said Anne Gingerich, executive director of the Harrisburg-based nonprofit association, a service organization. “It is the numbers of people showing up, overwhelming the system, and the people who are trying to serve them.

"The need will continue to increase until we can figure out how to get some money back into the pockets of people.”

About 93% of the organizations have canceled programs or events. And as a whole, the groups reported that nearly 10,000 staff members are currently facing pay cuts or furloughs and layoffs.

“In the nonprofit community, 80% of organizations have budgets of under $500,000, and 92% have budgets under a million, so those are organizations that are going to struggle,” said Gingerich. “That’s why there are so many really at risk of being unable to continue.”

The survey was conducted by the nonprofit association in partnership with the United Way of Pennsylvania; the Pennsylvania Council of Children, Youth, and Family Services; the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, and the Community Foundation of Lehigh Valley.