1

Public ne Arundel County:

Coordinators of Volunteers of Anne Arundel County– Reflections about Trends affecting Nonprofits in AA County

June 5, 2009

Dan Nataf, PhDDirector, Center for the Study of Local IssuesAnne Arundel Community College101 College Parkway, Careers 132Arnold, MD 21012(410) 777-2733 ddnataf@aacc.edu

www2.aacc.edu/csli

2

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Areas of interest• Political conditions • Economic conditions• Most affected groups• Perceptions of some non-profits• Who are the contributors• Who volunteers • Conclusions

• Analyses based mainly on survey data collected by the Center for the Study of Local Issues(CSLI) at Anne Arundel Community College

• CSLI is part of the Sarbanes Center for Public and Community Service

• See www2.aacc.edu/csli for details

• Political conditions • Economic conditions• Most affected groups• Perceptions of some non-profits• Who are the contributors• Who volunteers • Conclusions

• Analyses based mainly on survey data collected by the Center for the Study of Local Issues(CSLI) at Anne Arundel Community College

• CSLI is part of the Sarbanes Center for Public and Community Service

• See www2.aacc.edu/csli for details

3

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Political Conditions• Political conditions

• Low confidence in government• Public enthusiasm for specific

areas of government spending is still high

• But overall desire is for less spending and no increased taxation

• Likely perception by elected officials that additional taxation is to be avoided, even with cuts to services

• Nonprofits struggle to retain government funding – compete for declining dollars

• Face new challenges in how programs are administered

• Political conditions • Low confidence in government• Public enthusiasm for specific

areas of government spending is still high

• But overall desire is for less spending and no increased taxation

• Likely perception by elected officials that additional taxation is to be avoided, even with cuts to services

• Nonprofits struggle to retain government funding – compete for declining dollars

• Face new challenges in how programs are administered

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Political Conditions: Confidence in Govt.

Service Increase Reduce Keep same

Increase-Reduce

Don’t know

Public Schools 58 6 35 +52 2Police 53 5 41 +47 1Fire 46 2 50 +44 2The community college 41 6 49 +35 4Seniors’ services 39 7 52 +32 3Roads 39 10 51 +29 1Social Services 35 16 45 +19 4Health Department 34 13 46 +21 6Environmental Oversight 31 18 47 +13 4

Libraries 26 8 64 +18 2Parks and Recreation 22 17 59 +5 3Planning and Zoning 13 29 49 -16 9

COVAACC June 5, 2009 Political Conditions: County Budget – Increase,

Reduce or Maintain Unchanged Various Services

COVAACC June 5, 2009 Political Conditions: County Budget – % Saying

“Increase” 2009, 2004, 1997

COVAACC June 5, 2009 Political Conditions: County Budget – Change in %

Saying “Increase” - 2009, 2004

COVAACC June 5, 2009 Political Conditions: County/State Budgets –

Cut programs or raise taxes?

9

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Economic Conditions• Main trends

• Perceptions of economic decline at all time high – although especially high for country rather than county

• Variety of specific impacts• Certain groups more

dramatically affected by economic decline

• Economic distress creates increases needs in context of declining revenues…

COVAACC June 5, 2009Perceptions of Economic Decline

AA County: Right or Wrong Direction (Spring, 2009)

Findings – Most Important ProblemFindings – Most Important Problem

GrowthEducation

COVAACC June 5, 2009Perceptions of Economic Decline

What is the most important problem facing AAC? (Spring, 2009)

COVAACC June 5, 2009Perceptions of Economic Decline

Rate Economic Conditions – County, State and Country (Spring, 2009)

COVAACC June 5, 2009 Rate the Economy: AA County vs. USA

14

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Specific Economic Impacts

– Variety of economic impacts– Inflation– Unemployment– Utilities– Transportation cost– Health care – Housing– Taxes– Stocks and retirement accounts

– Economic uncertainty likely to induce more savings and less generosity

GSPC Presentation – April 14, 2009

Specific Economic Impacts, 2009, 2008

16

GSPC Presentation – April 14, 2009

Economic Conditions and Groups

– Economic conditions impact groups differently– Race– Gender– Employment situation– Marital status– Age– Income

17

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Salaries not keeping up (Spring, 2009)

18

COVAACC June 5, 2009 Problems with Inadequate Health Care Insurance (Spring, 2009)

Overall, 29

19

COVAACC June 5, 2009 Unable to find Affordable Housing (Spring, 2009)

20

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Facing possibility of Unemployment (Spring 2009)

21

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Perceptions of Nonprofits in Anne Arundel County

– Name recognition

– Favorability

– Contributors

22

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Perceptions of Certain Nonprofits (Spring 2006)

Name Recognition

23

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Perceptions of Certain Nonprofits

Positive, Negative or Neutral Feelings

24

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Perceptions of Certain Nonprofits

% Saying they have made a contribution to nonprofits

25

COVAACC June 5, 2009 Demographic Groups and Contributions

26

COVAACC June 5, 2009 Contributors YWCA, YMCA, Chrysalis House

Who contributes to nonprofits

27

COVAACC June 5, 2009 Contributors: United Way, SA and Red Cross

28

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Volunteerism

– How many and who volunteers

– Joins boards

– Contributes to civic life generally

29

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Volunteers: Part of Civic Life

30

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Who is most likely to volunteer?

31

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Who is most likely to join a board?

32

COVAACC June 5, 2009

Conclusions

• Political and economic conditions unlikely to change for the foreseeable future

• Fiscal constraints upon nonprofits likely to be durable

• Will require careful assessment of mission and level of service

• Reliance upon volunteers – challenge due to recruitment pool constraints (will BRAC help?) and vitality of civic life generally