Lead Photo: STARability Foundation’s calendar of Zoom programs provides activities for participants.
According to a recent flash poll conducted by the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, 63 percent of Gulfshore area nonprofits expect the COVID -19 pandemic to have a negative impact on their annual budgets. While just about everyone was adversely affected by the shutdown, many Southwest Florida nonprofits faced reduced funding paired with the added strain of increased demand for their services that came as they were forced to close or scale back their normal operations.
“We had to close our doors to all of our in-person programming that takes place at our center,” says Karen Govern, executive director of the STARability Foundation, a Naples-based nonprofit that provides programs, activities and vocational training for those with intellectual developmental disabilities. “We’ve been working for decades to move people with intellectual developmental disabilities out of isolation and then, within a second, they’re back in that same situation. Having routines disrupted so dramatically has really affected the population we serve, so we created a whole calendar of Zoom programs for our participants with activities that they can participate in and still be engaged.”
The pivot to virtual classes allowed STARability to continue its mission, but Govern said there are still plenty of questions going forward. Though she’s certain the virtual programs will continue to expand and become a regular part of the foundation’s services, Govern said STARability’s in-person programming, and its funding, could be very different in the future.
“We’re looking at a slow, deliberate reopening because we work with a vulnerable population,” Govern says. “Our virtual classes will become a part of our programs when we resume our in-person programming. We need to raise money for things like technology needs, and the additional staffing and staff hours to support a virtual curriculum that will run in tandem with our in-person programs. Donors have said, ‘If you need anything, please let us know.’ Some funders are being very proactive and funding the COVID-19 emergency relief, but then others are waiting to see where they’re going to direct their funding for future needs. So, a lot of it is unknown.”
CHANGING OPERATIONS: Howard Isaacson says the key to ECI’s change in the age of COVID-19 is collaboration.
While the pandemic forced STARability to reimagine its services, another newer nonprofit, Emmanuel Communities Inc. (ECI), faced some different hurdles, according to CEO Howard Isaacson. The organization, founded by Emmanuel Lutheran Church of Naples to oversee its community outreach space called iEmmanuel Park, was forced to cancel its primary fundraising event in March due to the onset of the novel coronavirus. “When the event would have happened, the stock market was in the process of moving from 28,000 on the Dow down to 18,000, and there was just this tremendous amount of fear,” Isaacson says. “At that point, we actually didn’t even ask people for money. We wanted folks to just survive financially and psychologically, and also help lives through the crisis, to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, before we resumed our fundraising.”
With its largest fundraising event preempted and many of its community partners closed, Isaacson said ECI had to change its operations, in addition to its fundraising. The key to that change in the age of COVID-19, as Isaacson sees it, is in collaboration.
“We actually get asked for money very frequently by other charities, and so money is often the easiest, but … it can often be the scarcest resource. When it comes to businesses, if they are less comfortable giving money, their volunteering of time and or materials is extremely helpful in assisting local not-for-profits to deliver their services,” Isaacson says. “We always tell our donors that, yes, we very much need their financial support. But even more important is the wisdom that they can share with us; the feedback; the internalization; reflection; and the suggestions based on where they’ve been and what they’ve done; what they’ve seen in the past and what they’re seeing now to help us to really fulfill our objective and our goals.”
COMING TOGETHER
Since 1976, the Southwest Florida Community Foundation has worked to improve and sustain the quality of life in the Gulfshore area. While the Foundation has always stepped up in times of need to help folks in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties, the wide-ranging effects of the coronavirus shutdown required the quick development of some new tactics to better serve the community.
“We jumped in quickly, seeing what was coming, and opened our relief fund right away … for those that wanted to help families dealing with COVID and the many different forms it has affected our community,” says Carolyn Rogers, SWFLCF vice president of development and communications. “But we are in a space called ‘Collaboratory’ and it’s a place where we gather people to connect. Our intention all along has been to become not just a physical place, but a virtual space. We started something called ‘Thrivability,’ which is a series of webinar conversations, so we could be a resource to nonprofits and help guide them through working with technology and … how they’re going to serve their public.”
Based on data derived from its polls of nonprofits around the region, the Foundation developed a variety of webinar topics, such as how to lead online meetings, creating virtual events and fundraisers, a guide to the Paycheck Protection Program and more. However, Rogers said that beyond virtual classes, building the community, and building relationships, are still priorities.
“If you’re a nonprofit organization that is struggling, we’d like to try to help, whether we can help them or refer them to people that might be able to help them from different standpoints,” she says. “But relationships still trump all.
I think connecting is still going to be important. We really consider ourselves collaborative … a way of people coming together to solve problems and seize opportunities to improve our community. Access to information and support needs to be available to everyone, and we’re really focused on that.”
GULFSHORE NONPROFITS DURING COVID-19, BY THE NUMBERS
52%
Percentage of Gulfshore-area nonprofits with fewer than three months of operating reserves.
77%
Percentage of respondents who anticipate receiving some money from their applications for funding from sources such as the Paycheck Protection program (PPP) and Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan.
71%
Percentage of nonprofits that have reported stable or increased demand for their organization’s services since the beginning
of the COVID-19 outbreak.
52%
Percentage of respondents who cited “paying bills” as the most immediate need for those they serve.
63%
Percentage of responding nonprofits that expect a negative impact to their annual budget due to COVID-19.
