The first months of the pandemic at Dorcas Ministries, which provides food and financial assistance in Cary, were tough.

The nonprofit’s thrift shop, which typically generates 75% of its revenue, closed for two months. Volunteers stopped coming, fearful of contracting COVID-19. The organization had more than 500 volunteers before the pandemic, twice what it has now, estimates executive director Howard Manning.

At the same time, need surged: demand for the ministries’ services has quadrupled since before the pandemic.

But, after a few months, the nonprofit quickly saw donations surge, too. In 2020, it has received more than double the donations it did in 2019.

“Individuals, churches, businesses in the area have stepped in to fill the gap,” Manning said, meaning that the organization has “not had to turn away one single person due to lack of funds and we’ve been able to keep our food pantry shelves very well stocked.”

In November, Dorcas Ministries served nearly 4,500 people, compared with closer to 1,000 per month last year.

Donations increase, but unevenly

As the pandemic has driven up demand for services, giving has helped some nonprofits meet it.

Year-to-date donations have increased 7.6% nationwide from 2019 to 2020, according to a report released Tuesday by the Fundraising Effectiveness Project.

Nonprofits took a hit in the first quarter of 2020, when donations dropped 6% from the first quarter of 2019, according to FEP. But the second and third quarters more than made up for it.

According to a survey of over 2,000 nonprofit workers statewide, about 75% of North Carolina nonprofits lost revenue in the first three months of the pandemic compared with recent years. The survey, conducted by the N.C. Center for Nonprofits and the N.C. Office of Strategic Partnerships over the summer, found that 80% projected lower than usual revenue over the next six months.

The survey hasn’t been updated, and the Fundraising Effectiveness Project’s data isn’t broken down by state, so the final impact of the pandemic on nonprofit revenues in North Carolina in 2020 is unknown.

And, about one-third of annual donations to nonprofits typically doesn’t occur until December.

According to David Heinen, vice president for public policy and advocacy at the Center for Nonprofits, the pandemic has affected organizations differently. Direct-service providers are generally seeing an increase in donations, he said, “while other nonprofits are finding it a challenge to maintain their donors this year.” Nonprofits that rely on in-person events like galas to raise money, have struggled, he said.

Arts organizations that count on admission and ticket sales have seen big losses, too.

North Carolina arts nonprofits have reportedly sustained losses of $89 million, said Nate McGaha, executive director of Arts North Carolina, an advocacy organization. But he estimates total losses are probably much higher, possibly double, as many groups have stopped reporting losses over the course of the pandemic.

“The donations have not precipitously dropped off as much as we feared in the beginning,” McGaha said. But declines in other revenue sources have left many organizations “hanging by a thread,” he said.

Strain on nonprofits

Once the pandemic began, the demand for food at Urban Ministries was unlike anything the Durham nonprofit had ever seen, said executive director Sheldon Mitchell.

That need has only intensified.

“The stimulus was coming out and people still had resources initially,” Mitchell said. “And now over the time more people have become unemployed or exhausted their resources we’ve begun to see a greater need.”

According to the Center for Nonprofits survey, 40% of respondents indicated demand for services had already increased in the first three months of the pandemic. Nearly 60% projected an increased demand over the next six months, according to the survey,

At The Salvation Army of Durham, Orange, and Person Counties, donations have increased by roughly $200,000 compared to last year. But staff have still struggled to meet rising demand.

The organization is seeing 40 clients a day seeking food, rent and utility assistance, communications director Aalayah Sanders said, at least twice the typical number before the pandemic. It’s been overbooked for appointments since March.

“It is sometimes difficult when you aren’t able to help everyone in need because we only have eight hours in a workday,” Sanders said. “These needs are so immediate that we aren’t always able to address them in the timely manner that they may need.”

And it’s not like the nonprofit sector could meet everyone’s needs before COVID-19.

“There’s always a waiting list for rent support, there’s always too few beds at the shelters,” said Amanda Stewart, a professor of nonprofit management at N.C. State University. “So you just have the exasperation of that in this economic environment.”

PPP was a “lifesaver” for nonprofits

Many organizations that received federal assistance have been better able to meet demand. According to Manning, the funding Dorcas Ministries received through the federal Paycheck Protection Program loan, was a “lifesaver.”

Over 5,000 nonprofits in North Carolina received PPP loans in the first round. And the additional $285 billion committed to PPP under the proposed stimulus bill promises another lifeline, along with the extended and expanded employee retention tax credit, which offers tax credits to employers who keep workers on their payroll.

But the first round of stimulus left out many nonprofits, and there’s nothing in the second round to specifically target them. The Center for Nonprofits survey found older nonprofits and those with bigger budgets and staffs were more likely to have received PPP funding when the survey was conducted over the summer than small, newer nonprofits.

Nonprofits serving rural areas only were also less likely to have already received loan funding: 37% of rural nonprofits received funding compared with 42% of those serving urban/suburban communities only and 52% of those serving both.

Overall, PPP funding was more difficult to access in the first round for businesses less connected to larger financial institutions, which are disproportionately those in rural areas or those led by people of color.

Heinen says, in addition to PPP, nonprofits may see an increase in donations as people receive their stimulus checks in the new federal relief package.

“There’s a bit of hope for at least some influx of money,” he said. “We’ll have to see if that’s anywhere near adequate to meet the need of communities.”