Kane County report: When nonprofit funding is down, women suffer most

The number of nonprofit organizations is growing in Illinois, but the size of the donor pool they are all trying to swim in is not. Neither is funding from the state. And that means big trouble for women in Kane County, according to a fundraising consultant who met with Kane County officials Tuesday.

Illinois saw a 53 percent increase in the number of nonprofits operating within its borders between 2000 and 2014, according to Steve Pratapas, president of Naperville-based Pratapas Associates LLC. With that came a similar increase in the number of people serving on nonprofit boards. Most such boards now have 16 to 20 members.

They all have time to give. Most have no experience raising money, Pratapas said. And that means organizational death right now for many nonprofits.

The biggest source of revenue for local nonprofits, about 67 percent, is earned income. Half that comes from government grants.

"We've been going through a significant financial impasse in our state," Pratapas said. "Nonprofits have had to tap into reserves and have had to take out lines of credit to stay in operation. Organizations lacking reserves, or that can't get lines of credit, are cutting back on services, cutting back on staff or even closing their doors."

That's where women lose, Pratapas said. About two-thirds of the employees of local nonprofits are women, he said. And most of the clients served are women, especially programs like Meals on Wheels or those that provide child care.

Increasingly, the funding source to save those nonprofits and the women they serve are individual donors, Pratapas said.

Charitable giving has nearly returned to 2007 levels, he said, quoting Giving USA studies. But just about all that cash comes from "individuals just like you and I," Pratapas said.

The studies show 72 percent of giving comes from individuals. Another 15 percent comes from family foundations, which Pratapas argued is also individual giving. And another 8 percent comes from bequests, which is just individuals giving at the end of their lives.

In other words, 95 percent of charity comes from people's wallets. Only about 5 percent comes from corporations, Pratapas said. And half that is in the form of in-kind, noncash donations.

"The broader corporate community, still recovering from the recession, is not giving at the level it was giving even back in 2007," Pratapas said. "Many of our nonprofits today focus on getting corporate donations. The reality is getting into corporate dollars is a real challenge."

Similarly, Kane County government has found its own charitable giving to be more of a challenge.

Last year, the pool of funds the county doles out to local community groups from its share of riverboat gambling proceeds dipped below $1 million for the first time. The county, like the state, is not expected to be in position to increase its nonprofit funding any time in the near future.