On Monday, a broad coalition of more than 60 national charitable nonprofit organizations sent a letter to President Biden and congressional leaders calling for "urgently needed pandemic and workforce shortage relief that will enable charitable organizations to fulfill their roles in our nation's relief, recovery, and rebuilding." The letter identifies nonprofit-specific policy solutions that would provide disaster relief, address nonprofit workforce shortages, and promote volunteerism to aid our communities. The letter is now open for all charitable organizations to sign and circulate to show Congress and the White House that nonprofits in local communities throughout the country support these priorities.
Why Nonprofits, Why Now?
While all residents and sectors of the economy have been hurt by the pandemic, charitable organizations are now facing the combined challenges of both the harmful financial impact on their operations and chronic staffing shortages that impair the ability of nonprofits to serve their communities.
Financial Hardships and Realities: The pandemic continues to disrupt lives and the economy, factors that normally and rightly motivate Congress to enact disaster relief that provides funding and tax relief to those most directly affected. Charitable organizations have utilized many forms of relief over the past two years, but most of those supports crafted to help nonprofits help others have expired. Yet the needs remain great as charitable organizations struggle to provide pandemic relief in the face of continuing health risks, lost revenues, and the lack of available staff. Further, once the pandemic is defeated and other sectors of the economy return to "normalcy," the public will still turn to charitable organizations to help them recover through education and healthcare, social services designed to help rebuild lives and careers, and cultural and faith engagements dedicated to restoring hope, inspiration, and trust.
Nonprofit Staffing Shortages: As of December 2021, there still are 450,000 fewer employees in the nonprofit sector than when the pandemic began, meaning that existing employees are carrying a much heavier – and unsustainable – load. Charitable organizations report significant difficulties retaining staff and filling vacancies. Recent data confirm that four in five (79%) nonprofits identified salary competition as a major factor preventing them from filling job openings and nearly a quarter (23%) stated that the inability to find child care affected recruitment and retention. The impact of the shortages can be seen in virtually every local community as nonprofits are forced to restrict needed services, institute waiting lists, or close operations entirely. Because individuals and communities rely so heavily on charitable nonprofits for their wellbeing, the nonprofit workforce shortage impacts everyone.
