Every day, nonprofits across Kansas City work to meet growing needs in our community. While they are providing critical services that help residents and visitors thrive, many nonprofit leaders report that growing demand and funding challenges are stretching their organizations thin. The Nonprofit Pulse Survey takes a deep dive into the pressures Kansas City nonprofits face in today’s landscape.
Conducted through a partnership between the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership, Community Capital Fund, Nonprofit Connect, Support Kansas City and United Way of Greater Kansas City, the Nonprofit Pulse Survey gathered feedback from 90 nonprofit leaders representing a variety of organizations. Their responses reveal that they are collectively navigating significant financial uncertainty, rising service demand and growing operational complexity.
Funding challenges are creating the greatest strain, as many organizations are struggling to meet emerging community needs while managing administrative requirements and limited resources. Despite these difficulties, Kansas City nonprofits continue to demonstrate resiliency by remaining focused on strengthening, sustaining, and, in some cases, expanding their work.
Other key findings include:
- 47% reported that insufficient and unstable funding is the most prevalent internal factor limiting their organization’s ability to deliver on its mission.
- Many organizations expressed strong interest in receiving support that strengthens capacity-building priorities, with 62% reporting that fundraising and revenue strategy support would be the most beneficial.
- 72% of organizations surveyed have operating reserves that would sustain operations for no more than 12 months, including 17% with less than three months of reserves.
The findings in this report underscore the essential role philanthropy plays in helping nonprofits meet growing community needs. The Community Foundation’s Philanthropic Advisors encourage donors to support the charities and causes they care about with grants for general operations and other flexible funding that can help organizations respond to emerging needs. We also encourage donors to connect directly with the nonprofit organizations they are interested in supporting to build relationships and learn more about the opportunities and challenges they are facing.
If you’re inspired by the findings in this report and want to help local charities carry out their missions, our team is here to help. Contact us at info@growyourgiving.org to learn how you can make an impact with a donor-advised fund or other charitable giving vehicles.
Authored by: Whitney Hosty, Vice President of Philanthropic Services
