COVID-19 relief is needed to help nonprofits

Like other businesses and organizations, nonprofits have been struggling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and many are still relying on community donations as they await relief from other sources.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a Thursday press conference that the state Legislature recognized the struggle nonprofits are facing right now and announced that they would be eligible to apply for grants of up to $25,000 along with small businesses.

Calder Johnson, furloughed managing artistic director of the North Coast Repertory Theatre, said the additional support “can’t come soon enough”

“For the performing arts, we’ve been shut down for nine months,” Johnson said. “And we will be shut down at least, I would imagine, for another four to six months. On the financial end of things, that’s apocalyptic, so when I heard about this grant, it was incredible news.”

When the county was still in the state’s yellow tier, indicating low risk of COVID-19 spread in the community, arts organizations were advocating for performance arts guidelines at the state level. With the county now in the purple tier and COVID-19 case counts continuing to climb, Johnson said he doesn’t see the performing arts reopening without widespread vaccine distribution.

“I would not anticipate really getting back into the swing of things earlier than May of next year,” Johnson said.

Various arts organizations have tried to transition to virtual performances and “while these shows are nice to stay connected with the community, they are not even close to any kind of financial replacement,” Johnson said.

“People just are not willing to pay the same amount for say a virtual Zoom show as they would for a live show,” Johnson said.

The repertory theatre didn’t have a big Giving Tuesday push this year, Johnson said. Instead of encouraging people to give one-time donations, Johnson said the theatre has been encouraging people to give recurring donations through $8 to $15 monthly subscriptions.

“That’s provided a steady trickle of income and allowed us to pay our bills at a reasonable time,” Johnson said.

Giving Tuesday, a day following Black Friday and Cyber Monday when people are encouraged to donate to nonprofits and charities, went relatively well for at least one nonprofit. The Environmental Protection Information Center received roughly the same amount of donations it did for Giving Tuesday this year as it did last year, said Tom Wheeler, executive director of the nonprofit.

“This is a big donation day for nonprofits nationwide, but it’s not necessarily the biggest day for us