Most non-profit organizations have missions that meet vital needs of individuals and families who have some significant life struggles. The networks of non-profit programs do an amazing amount of incredible work that has significant impact to the needs of our society.
As we hear some of the news regarding our economy and what may happen in the future, it has given us a sense of uncertainty. We tend to think of issues like inflation, recession, supply issues and economic growth as a phenomenon that impacts businesses. Since many businesses make products that are purchased by consumers it is something that has become a focal point in our economic predictors.
We know that uncertainty about the economy has a significant impact on our stock market, retirement accounts, investments, etc. However, as we discovered during COVID, there were significant rises in inflation and everyday costs of construction, healthcare, technology, utilities, groceries, normal supplies, etc. For Lakeside we saw our expenses rise tremendously while our contract increases were minimal. Eventually that begins to impact your budget and the ability to take on necessary tasks and any growth steps. We have to be circumspect in our responsibility to make budgets work and meet daily expenses.
During COVID, many non-profits were funded with government grants and support. I know that many of our client organizations that we were training utilized government grants to fund the training of their staff. In the same manner some of the schools required extra counseling help to deal with post-COVID mental health issues with their students. The grants provided were instrumental to help non-profits, but now those grants have come to an end and the affect of expenses and inflation are becoming more and more impactful.
To make things more interesting, some of the standard funding has been stretched or frozen. We are left with long-term expense increases that I just mentioned with no relief and less income from federal and state grants. Therefore, the current situation is full of financial challenges for non-profits and, as I have written before, we will all need to think differently about how we will achieve our missions.
My point is to show a bit of history of rising costs and the impact that we have already experienced. In a scenario that is already stretched, to now add more economic instability with rising costs while funding is limited will actually compromise the stability of many non-profits. The actions of those who are making decisions about our economy will significantly impact those of us who are providing vital services. It will require us to plan, be innovative, use our creativity and work diligently to sustain our valuable programs.
As we think about the future of our non-profit community, we cannot continue to manage more expenses while not receiving significant funding to match. Most of our financial energy goes to support our staff with salaries and benefits that cannot begin to match other employment that they can receive from more wealthy organizations. This adds pressure in the hiring process as we strive to bring quality professionals to support our clients and our organization.
Our economy is a significant part of our mission. It provides the energy to drive our staff, our programs and our projects that benefit those in our care. It is not a benign issue for us when there are economic factors that negatively impact our financial stability. It is important for our non-profit community and our families that we come to a good balance of expanded funding while managing rising expenses. If we are not proactive, it will greatly diminish our capacity to meet the needs of those we serve each and every day.
Gerry Vassar
President/CEO
