Charities “Have Lost Billions” And 1 Out Of Every 5 Churches In America “May Not Survive”
Whenever a major economic downturn happens, churches and charities always get hit really hard. Cutting back on giving is often the very first step that people take when it comes time to reduce expenditures, and that is extremely unfortunate. But of course you can’t get blood out of a rock, and there are tens of millions of Americans that have lost jobs in 2020 and so they don’t have any extra money to give at this point. Approximately 59 million Americans have filed new claims for unemployment over the past 24 weeks, and we are seeing absolutely massive lines at food banks all around the nation. In such an environment, it was inevitable that there would be a collapse in charitable giving, and it is being reported that major U.S. charities have already “lost billions in revenue”…
Charity organizations have lost billions in revenue during the pandemic, making the sector one of many to seek support from Congress at a time when negotiations over another COVID-19 relief package show little sign of a breakthrough.
Traditional methods of fundraising for charities — concerts, festivals and galas — have all been canceled or significantly scaled back due to public health concerns.
What is ironic is that many of these charities actually serve the poor and unemployed, and so their services are in greater need than ever before at a time when their funding is rapidly drying up.
An organization that represents about 500 of these charities says that 83 percent of their members have reported that revenues are down in 2020…
Overall, 83 percent of charity organizations reported a decline in revenues during the pandemic, including a decline in earned revenue from events or other activities, and a reduction in individual giving and grants received, according to a recent survey by Independent Sector, which lobbies in Washington for about 500 nonprofits, foundations and corporate giving programs.
Of even greater concern is what is happening to churches all over America. During the lockdowns, many churches experienced a precipitous drop in giving, and of course there are still some states that are putting very strict restrictions on church gatherings. This has had an absolutely devastating impact on many church budgets, and there have been widespread cutbacks.