Charities
and have suffered because their normal funding, like ticket sales, have decreased or disappeared.
Sue Stevens, a spokeswomanforDayton Live, said the organization had posted a $2 million loss for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, which does not include any losses they would have incurred since then.
“Donations to arts groups aredownaswell, since social service agencies are naturally needing more support than ever and many individuals have lost jobs,” Stevens said. “We are so grateful to those who have continued to donate and make special gifts during this difficult time.”
The Ohio State study indicated about 33% of Ohio nonprofits are delivering their programs in a severely reduced capacity and another 26% are delivering their programs in a moderately reduced capacity. About 14% of thenonprofits surveyed said they were not delivering any programs at all during this time.
Llacuna said individual donors have been able to help some arts charities.
Llacuna said she was optimistic for the future given how the arts are naturally innovative and continue to find new ways to present their work in a socially distanced world. She said she is also optimistic because many nonprofits have been able to change the way they fund-raise, and be successful in other ways.
Llacuna also fund-raises forDayton Children’sHospital and said that some members of the community had been able to donate once the pandemic started, and the
hospital was able to set up some COVID-19 relief funds for families in need.
“It’s been a difficult time for the hospital. In spite of COVID-19, we’re still seeing kids with cancer, still seeing kids come into the emergency room with various incidents, and we’re still in a mental health crisis in our community and the pandemic is only making that worse,” she said.
VickiBraun, president and CEO of Oak Tree Corner, a nonprofit that helps children experiencing grief, said Oak Tree Corner was sending out their second mailing of fundraising during the pandemic. Their first round of mailing was, “down a bit but not horrible,” she said.
Lee Lauren Truesdale, chief development officer for The Foodbank, said fundraising this year and in 2019 for the Foodbank looked very different from prior years. The localcommunity stepped up to give when the pandemic hit and also when the tornadoes hit the Miami Valley last year, she said. That ended up being their biggest giving seasons
during the year, rather than the usual giving season in November and December, Truesdale said.
Truesdale said while giving hasn’t been down this year, the organization has needed all the funding they can get because they have had to change the way they deliver food, hire extra staff to replace staff who had to quarantine or had family members at a high risk, and buy extra food when their usual supplierswere not able to donate food theway they previously had been able to.
“Thecommunity has been incredibly responsive inmaking sure that everyone has what they need during this crisis and of course during the tornadoes as well,” she said.
Llacuna suggested that thosewho are able to donate reach out to their favorite charities and ask how they can help. She said charities can also accept some more unconventional donations, suchas real estateandstocks.
“People are still stepping forward, individual donors, to help keep our mission strong,” she said.