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Nick Coleman: Dig deeper for charities in difficult times

Nonprofits struggle to raise money while their services are in demand.

By NICK COLEMAN, Star Tribune

Last update: November 15, 2009 - 8:51 AM

With most states, including Minnesota, facing budget problems not seen since the Great Depression, California may become the model for financial collapse. At least 10 states are said to be in danger of becoming California-style money pits and one, Arizona, is so desperate it may lease state buildings -- including its capitol -- to private-sector interests to raise money.

"I'm sorry, son. We can't visit the governor's reception room to see those great Civil War paintings. I'm afraid Mr. Hecker is using that room to practice his putting."

Minnesota has not reached that level of dysfunction yet. But the state faces daunting shortfalls so troubling that even Minnesota's What-Me-Worry governor seems worried. He sent word from somewhere on the national GOP presidential candidate rubber-chicken circuit that we might have to borrow money to keep the roof on.

It's always good to hear from Tim Pawlenty.

Minnesota is not in danger of losing its Capitol. But it is in danger of losing its vision, and part of its soul. With the recession, rising unemployment, busted portfolios and tighter household budgets, the state's hugely important nonprofit community -- the largest in the country -- is falling on hard times. And when it gets harder for our nonprofits, it gets harder for everyone, especially those who are most in need. This is a problem only Minnesotans can fix. With our time, our talents and, yes, our money.

Seventy percent of Minnesotans donate to nonprofits, and they better keep doing it, despite the shrinking economy. One in 10 of us works for a nonprofit (more than half employed by large institutions such as hospitals and colleges), and many more Minnesotans rely on nonprofits for services that make Minnesota a better place to live and, for those in need, a less harsh place in which to survive.

With 3,500 nonprofits, Minnesota leads the nation. But with the economy in a tailspin, donations are in decline, nonprofits are cutting budgets and staffs, and many may not be around by the time the economy improves. Already, several have quietly disappeared.

Among the vanished: East Metro OIC, which provided vocational training and counseling; the Minnesota Senior Federation, which served senior citizens for 37 years, and Centro Legal, which offered legal services to low-income Spanish speakers. The safety margin for low-income families has shrunk to a point where nonprofits are needed more than ever. But with further cuts to government budgets coming up, chances are more nonprofits will die, just as they are needed most.

"We're going backwards," Jan Malcolm, chief executive of Courage Center, told an annual conference of nonprofit and foundation leaders in St. Paul Nov. 5-6. Malcolm, who was Minnesota commissioner of health during the administration of Gov. Jesse Ventura, said the last round of budget cuts was "devastating to the most vulnerable" and that "we are losing decades of progress" on problems such as the integration of the disabled into mainstream society. Does anyone want to go back to the 1950s when the poor were ignored and the disabled institutionalized? Is the Minnesota of the future going to look like the one of the unenlightened past?

More than 1,700 people attended the conference, and the overriding concern, which touched on almost every aspect of the nonprofit mission, was how to cope with a recession so steep that its effects are likely to deepen for another year or two, even if the economy restarts.

"What concerns us is that revenues are down, just as the needs have gone up," said Jon Pratt, executive director of the Council of Nonprofits. "Given the state of affairs, people are in good spirits. But we need people to stay engaged, and to continue to support nonprofits by volunteering, and by donating."

Many Minnesotans get out their checkbooks in December to make year-end contributions to their favorite charities. There is a lot riding on the hope that we keep up that habit, despite the current difficulties.

But we don't have to wait for Christmas.

This Tuesday would be a good day to give to your favorite Minnesota charity, because it's "Give to the Max Day." Just go to www.givemn.org and make a contribution. All contributions will receive a match on Tuesday, and the goal is to raise as much money for Minnesota charities as possible in one 24-hour period.

"We hope people will keep supporting nonprofits," says Pratt. "The world needs more of what these organizations do, but this is going to be a time that really tests us."

A time that tries our souls tests our priorities. And tells us what Minnesotans are made of. When times get tough, the tough dig deeper.

Nick Coleman is a senior fellow at the Eugene J. McCarthy Center for Public Policy & Civic Engagement at the College of St. Benedict/St. John's University. He can be reached at nickcoleman@gmail.com.

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