The survey spanned from early May until the end of June, receiving responses from 29 non-profit organizations across the Hampton Roads area.
CHESAPEAKE, Va. — A survey distributed among nonprofit organizations in Hampton Roads revealed that more than a third of responding organizations admitted to already reducing staff as a result of the uncertainty surrounding federal funding cuts.
The data, gathered by Chesapeake-based education nonprofit ForKids, was gathered following a nonprofit roundtable event with Virginia Sen. Mark Warner this spring.
Answering on the condition of anonymity, 29 non-profits located in Hampton Roads responded between May 9 and June 30. Though the data gathered predates rescission and reconciliation measures, they note that organizations expect further impacts in the months ahead.
On the question of staffing, 11 of 27 organizations noted that they have already reduced staffing in response to potential financial challenges. Six organizations also noted that they have already reduced services, as well.
“Almost a third of the respondents are seeing cuts, and that is representative of a larger safety net that this community depends on,” said Thaler McCormick, ForKids’ CEO.
As of June 30, approximately $3 million was lost across the responding organizations, ranging from nonprofits with operating budgets as small as $114,000 to as large as $70 million.
Across those organizations, there is more than $82 million in federal dollars tied into those respective budgets, with the largest single federal dependency at $29 million. The average percentage of the organizations’ total budgets came in around 33%.
McCormick noted that larger nonprofits will have the ability to better absorb potential cuts, though the actual funding loss would be greater. Other smaller nonprofits face uncertainty about their future as a whole.
“What we do see right now as we talk to our partners is that there are some small nonprofits that will not survive,” McCormick said.