Not-for-Profit Survey

For those of you who work in the Long Island nonprofit sector, you know that the last 12 months have been extremely difficult. While the stock market has shown some signs of improvement, the economy continues to lag, resulting in increased demand and decreased funding for the nonprofit sector. In addition, with New York State’s budget woes and cash flow issues, nonprofits have had a difficult time making ends meet. The not-for-profit sector, which plays such an important role in almost every aspect of our lives, is in a very precarious place. Over the last year, the economy has taken down many organizations, and it is expected that many more will go the way of merger or dissolution.

In these difficult times, not-for-profit organizations need to continue to collaborate and share information so that organizations can make better and more informed decisions. This will help nonprofits in their long-term stability and help them to better establish and operate the programs that are so vital to the more than 3 million people that call Long Island home, and help advocate for the needs of their agencies and the sector as a whole.

The 2010 survey introduces many new questions focused on the financial health of the nonprofit sector to go along with many similar questions from past surveys to provide trends for the sector. We encourage agencies to take the time to complete the survey, as your voice will make the survey and its results much more meaningful. Last year the survey netted the lowest level of responses in its six-year history. This year, we are looking to significantly increase the number of survey respondents to continue to elevate the significance of the survey results. To maximize the consistency and effectiveness of the survey results, we suggest that you have your agency’s CEO/Executive Director complete or review the survey prior to submission.

Survey responses are due by Friday, September 17, 2010, with the final results to be tabulated and distributed in time for Philanthropy Day on November 19, 2010. Please take 20 minutes or so to complete the survey. Help us and our partners create a valuable benchmark that can assist you to effectively run your organization.

If you have any suggestions or ideas on how we can make this or next year’s survey more meaningful, please provide us with your input.