By
Anne Constable
| The New Mexican
October 16, 2005
Nonprofits preparing for their end-of-the-year
fundraising campaigns have one more thing to worry about --
disaster fatigue.
They fear their donors, who have already contributed to
hurricane relief along the Gulf Coast and now to
international aid organizations working in
earthquake-ravaged Pakistan, will feel tapped out come
December. Benefactors might give less -- or not at all.
Traditionally, nonprofits receive 80 percent of their annual
contributions in the last two months of the year.
Many donors like Carlota Baca, director of the New Mexico
Association of Grantmakers, collect envelopes sent to them
in the fall by their favorite charities. In December, they
sit down to make their decisions about how much to give.
"Usually that's a time of joy," Baca said. "But this year,
it's just going to be a little more uncomfortable. I'll just
have to make harder decisions."
According to Billie Blair, president of the Santa Fe
Community Foundation, "The real problem is going to be that
people have reached out, done all these things for hurricane
relief, and when it comes to the end of the year, will not
be able to support extremely critical needs in our own
community."
The Santa Fe area is home to a disproportionately high
number of nonprofits -- some 700 by Blair's estimate.
Disaster fatigue is hitting them on top of other challenges,
including competition for grants, a sluggish economy,
changing funding priorities of local foundations and higher
energy costs.
"A lot of things are going on. Hurricane Katrina is just
another cold wind blowing on our nonprofits," Blair said.
The Community Foundation received 200 applications for
grants in its funding cycle beginning in July, a 40 percent
increase over the previous year, she said. Many of those
organizations are seeking help with basic operating
expenses.
Among other local grantors, the McCune Charitable Foundation
has shifted its funding priorities to economic development.
The Daniel's Foundation has narrowed its focus.
And the Frost Foundation, which has strong ties to
Louisiana, has announced it is sending all funds in its next
granting cycle to the Gulf Coast. It is taking no
applications from New Mexico. Mary Amelia Howell, whose
great grandmother endowed the foundation, said directors had
made initial selections for the current June-cycle grants.
But after the hurricane, "we went back and cut again." She
estimated the loss to Santa Fe nonprofits at $1 million.
Baca said other foundations will try to make up the
difference, but many of them are also trying to help in
rebuilding Gulf Coast communities -- and some are also still
trying to respond to the tsunami in South Asia late last
year. Nonprofits are also expecting federal funding that
normally comes their way to be diverted to the Gulf.
Baca said she thought the most vulnerable organizations
would be the small nonprofits, the "little jewels that do
something small, but terribly important," like Gerard's
House, a grief-support center for children, teens and
families.
The Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society, which
exhausted its reserves in opening a new state-of-the-art
facility earlier this year, reports that donations are down
65 percent from projections. And in addition to its regular
population, the shelter is housing 40 canine evacuees from
the New Orleans area.
Director Duane Allen said many of the shelter's regular
donors are giving to national animal-rescue groups, but the
money is not trickling back to Santa Fe. The shortfall could
affect day-to-day operations as well as the shelter's
ability to implement nonessential innovative new programs,
he said.
Board president Roddey Burdine said other U.S. shelters are
facing similar problems. "It is understandable that people
want to help in Louisiana. But they have to realize that the
local shelters need their help as well." He said animal
lover and actress Ali MacGraw recently filmed a
public-service announcement at the shelter to encourage
local giving.
Tanya Doriss, director of IMPACT Personal Safety, which
teaches full-contact self-defense courses in Northern New
Mexico, said her group was already feeling the pinch. IMPACT
submitted 22 grant applications this year and received only
three, she said. Normally, the group's success rate is about
75 percent. IMPACT is also getting less money from the city
because of the decline in gross-receipts-tax revenues. And
major donors are cutting back, writing checks for $500
instead of $5,000, Doriss said.
No nonprofits begrudge money going to New Orleans, she
stressed, but "we're watching money that supports services
in our own community be siphoned off at an unbelievable
rate."
Doriss hopes she's wrong. But "my guess is that in the next
five years we're going to see an amazing increase in the
number of nonprofits going out of business or dramatically
reducing services," she said.
Katrina Huffaker was working at the College of Santa Fe in
September 2001. One day after terrorists flew planes into
the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the college sent
out its big fundraising mailing for the year. "Nothing came
in," Huffaker recalled.
This year Huffaker, now the director of development at La
Familia Medical and Dental Center, was wiser. After
Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, she postponed
her "soft" mailing to donors from Sept. 1 until Sept. 15.
But it still garnered less than $2,000, about half of what
she expected.
The annual fund mailing, which includes a letter asking
directly for money, went out Oct. 15, instead of Oct. 1. In
the letter, Huffaker acknowledged the need to support
disaster-relief agencies, but gently encouraged people to
give to La Familia. "Some can afford both; some can't. We
absolutely respect that," she said. But "with nonprofits,
the needs in our community don't stop because of
hurricanes."
David Barrett, director of the Southwest C.A.R.E. Center,
which provides medical services to the HIV/AIDS community,
said tickets go on sale for the annual Aid & Comfort gala at
the Eldorado Hotel in three weeks, and "we're holding our
breath." Referring to the need for financial aid in
Pakistan, he added, "A lot of people in Santa Fe have a
particular affinity for that part of the world."
Ginger Roherty, development director at the Children's
Museum, said her experience at St. John's College, from
which she retired last year, suggested that when people feel
an emotional attachment to institutions, their gifts
sometimes increase in spite of disasters. "My attitude," she
said, "is not to buy into the negative. (After Sept. 11,) we
tried not to be maudlin in our appeal and to be sensitive to
people's feelings, but still make the case that life goes on
and colleges still rely on the generosity of donors."
KC Quirk said the Frost Foundation cut Esperanza Shelter's
grant allocation from $20,000 to $15,000 after the hurricane
hit. But the shelter was the beneficiary of the mayor's ball
held earlier this month, a one-time opportunity. Quirk said
she thought the shelter for battered families made its goal
of $50,000 in ticket sales and sponsorships. But she is
concerned about whether the organization will continue to
get funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (via
the United Way of Santa Fe County) for emergency shelter.
And she's concerned about the annual fundraising campaign
that begins next month. Usually it brings in $20,000 to
$25,000.
"Federal funding is going to be affected by humanitarian
relief and rerouting of funding to rebuild Iraq. That's the
place where we could take the biggest and hardest hits," she
said. "These national and international events affect what
happens on the ground floor."
Partners in Education director Teri Thompson Randall
recently sent out 275 letters asking for money and has
received more than $6,000 so far. The appeal usually brings
in $5,000 to $8,000. She said she carefully worded the
letter, mailed as Rita bore down on the Gulf Coast. After
acknowledging the deep concern about displaced Americans,
she wrote: "We cannot forget that the education of our
children remains an ongoing responsibility for our
community."
Radio station KSFR is hitting its marks during the current
on-air drive, according to general manager Dal Dearman, but
Christina Lord, the underwriting director, said finding
sponsors is a yearlong job and "definitely one of my
concerns" in the next couple of months.
The Grantmakers' Baca decided at the last minute to
substitute a roundtable on disaster relief at the concluding
session of her organization's annual philanthropy conference
in Ruidoso on Nov. 2-4. The government and big national
nonprofits can fund immediate relief. But smaller nonprofits
can be more strategic and get more bang for their buck, she
believes. "Philanthropy very often has the wherewithal and
the wisdom to think long term," Baca said. "There will be
consequences a decade from now from Katrina."
Baca said her conference will also include a roundtable on
the cost of energy. With natural-gas prices 50 percent
higher this year, nonprofits are facing much steeper
operating expenses.
"I'm not going to say this is a perfect storm for the local
nonprofit sector, but I'm extremely worried," Baca admitted.
When she sits down this year to make her own
charitable-contribution decisions, Baca said, "I'll probably
try to keep my money a little closer to home. I'm going to
be more thoughtful."
Contact Anne Constable at 995-3845 or
aconstable@sfnewmexican.com.
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