Tucson News Now'Cautious optimism' regarding Arizona nonprofits

Like most of us in this economy, nonprofits are struggling to make ends meet.

But a new report out today from the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits, says things may be changing for the thousands of nonprofits in our state. The Alliance interviewed 173 of the 21,000 nonprofits in Arizona. According to a spokeswoman for the group, 57 of those interviewed are from Pima County.

The Alliance says the tone of its report is "cautious optimism," but some local nonprofits say that statement alone is a bit optimistic.

At the Community Food Bank and Casa de los Ninos, optimism is essential on a daily basis. The Alliance's report looks at how current economic conditions are impacting nonprofits in our state.

Bill Carnegie, the CEO of the Community Food Bank says the term 'cautious optimism' is a stretch for the Food Bank. "Cautious optimism is, I wouldn't use that term," he said. "I'm always an optimist, but I'm also a realist."

Carnegie says the reality at the food bank is this: demand for services is up, contributions are down, and next year, Carnegie says he's planning for yet another downturn.

"My biggest fear the coming year might be that we have to reduce the amount of food that's in our food boxes going out to families in need," Carnegie said.

More families also are getting help at Casa de los Ninos.

"We surely don't have the money back to the level we lost in 2009," said Susie Huhn, the executive director at Casa de los Ninos. "At all."

After three straight years of cuts from all levels of government, Huhn says the only optimism here is this is the first year they're not looking at further cuts.

"I'm kind of cautious when people say things might get better when maybe we're starting to accept that this is OK as a new normal," she said. "I don't want to accept that."

The report has four major findings:

- Regarding revenue, fewer than half of nonprofits interviewed reported a loss for the second year now

- Strains on nonprofit staff are slightly less severe

- Demand for services keep growing, with 84 percent of respondents expecting demand to increase again this year.

- Financial sustainability remains a question, with half surveyed saying they're relying on reserves to stay afloat.

According to the report, about 45 percent of nonprofits will have to reduce their budgets this year, and nearly 30 percent expect to end 2012 with a deficit.

To read the full report, click the following link: http://www.arizonanonprofits.org/arizona-nonprofits/borderline.aspx 

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