About 40 percent of charities say that employment remains their highest priority as service demands remain elevated because of inflation and the lingering pandemic.
The report, published last month by the global accounting firm UHY, also found an uneven financial recovery across the nonprofit sector. About 40 percent of charities said they've seen a "notable increase" in funding over the last year, while 22 percent reported a notable decrease. About half of the charities surveyed were primarily dedicated to social and community services.
It's the latest, worrisome sign for the sector as Americans continue to turn to charities amid high inflation — and pandemic-era disaster funds dry up. The issues have been particularly pronounced in the Houston region, where nonprofits have been inundated by requests for assistance with utility bills due to soaring electric costs.
Nonprofit leaders have warned of such issues for years, particularly as the sector faced a wave of pandemic-related burnout and resignations at the same time that service demands skyrocketed during the height of the pandemic and ensuing economic downturn.
Last year, the National Council of Nonprofits estimated that 500,000 nonprofit jobs — the equivalent of every charity worker in Texas — were unfilled, and one-third of nonprofits had job vacancies of at least 20 percent and as high as 40 percent. Experts estimated in January that it would take at least another 11 months before the labor shortage was resolved.
But there was some good news in the new survey. It found that nonprofits are emphasizing new technology for budgeting and communications, which has also helped bolster collaboration between charities themselves.
"It appears the not-for-profit space is finally on the verge of a much needed, comprehensive digital transformation," the report found.
© 2022 the Houston Chronicle. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
