Inflation hits nonprofits’ services, ability to fundraise

By DAN PARKS of The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Chronicle of Philanthropy

Nonprofits of all kinds are getting hit hard by inflation, experts say. Price and wage increases are hurting nonprofits in multiple ways, making it harder to keep up with their own basic operational expenses while also forcing them to curtail the services they provide. At the same time, there are early signs that the burst of generosity donors showed in the first year of the pandemic may be slowing considerably. “It’s not a pretty equation,” says Shannon McCracken, chief executive of the Nonprofit Alliance. Nonprofits that provide annual cost-of-living increases for their workers, as many do, are getting hit with higher payroll costs of about 6% even without any increase based on merit or seniority, McCracken says.