In a time of economic struggles, job losses and increased
foreclosures, nonprofit organizations have suffered and in 2010,
it’s expected to be worse.
In a time of economic struggles, job losses and increased foreclosures, nonprofit organizations have suffered and in 2010, it’s expected to be worse.
Add that to a Council of Foundations study that found 80 percent of all donations go outside of their respective counties, and local nonprofits are finding it harder and harder to stay afloat, said Gary Byrne, executive director of Community Foundation for San Benito County.
Byrne recently informed the county board of supervisors about the increasingly dire situation among local nonprofits.
That high rate of sending money outside the county has been due to bigger nonprofits having the ability to advertise their need for money, donations to alumni colleges and also name brand, Byrne said.
“We don’t have any institutional anchors – we don’t have any colleges or universities that would be a good anchor for the community,” he said. “A small community like us is in a huge disadvantage.”
Now, a re-shifted goal of the Community Foundation is to educate the people – especially younger generations – of the county’s local need, he said.
In one of the ways to help the local 135-and-counting nonprofits locally, Byrne and the San Benito branch of Community Foundation is reaching out to the children of the community.
For the first time, the foundation is allowing kids to take part in the “Friends of the Foundation,” giving them the chance to donate $5 dollars to help a sick kid in the community, while the foundation will match those donations.
Since January, nearly 300 kids have signed up, Byrne said.
“We are trying to educate ordinary people about the foundation,” he said.
For the full story, see the Free Lance on Tuesday.
