The Oregon Department of Justice reports that there are over 21,500 charitable organizations registered in Oregon. These private corporations are doing public good work in every community and touch nearly every facet of our lives. Nonprofits provide much-needed human and social services, address inequities, and create innovative solutions to community issues. These organizations keep our communities vibrant and healthy by catalyzing participation in civic affairs, creating opportunities for volunteerism, and enriching cultural life. Additionally, they generate significant economic impact in our Oregon communities, employing over 200,000 people before the COVID-19 crisis and paying over $10 billion in annual payroll. Hence, it is important to document the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on Oregon’s nonprofit sector, as they have profound implications on the social fabric and welfare of society, the employment of Oregonians, and the broader economy.

Because of the importance of public charities in our community, the Nonprofit Association of Oregon (NAO), Portland State University’s Nonprofit Institute, Mercy Corps Northwest, and Oregon Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters (ORVOAD) partnered to quantify the impact and challenges of the COVID-19 crisis on Oregon’s 501(c)(3) charitable benefit nonprofits. To capture the impact of one of the most unique public health issues of the 21st century, we developed and disseminated an online survey to over 1,400 charitable benefit nonprofits between June 2 and June 28, 2020.

The survey questions sought to document the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on nonprofits in the following areas:

  1. Core Programming: Changes in demand for nonprofit services and service provision.
  2. Funding: Impact on four key funding streams, that is, private giving which consists of donations from individuals and funding from foundations or corporations; earned income or fee-for-services; and government contracts or grants. We also wanted to document nonprofits’ experiences with two primary loan programs – the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) – both established by the United States Congress through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of March 27, 2020 to support small businesses’ COVID-19 response and recovery efforts.
  3. Operations: Questions focused on staffing changes, and whether nonprofits were undertaking layoffs and furloughs, as well as any key concerns nonprofits had as they project into the future.
  4. Volunteer Management: Impact on volunteerism in light of social/physical distancing requirements.
  5. Response and Recovery: Strategies nonprofits were implementing or considering implementing, including the social distancing measures they were implementing in preparation for a phased state reopening.
  6. Capacity-building: Crisis management and resilience capacity-building needs that nonprofits felt they needed.

This report summarizes responses and experiences shared by 490 nonprofit leaders representing organizations from a broad cross-section of charitable nonprofit types and sizes from across the State of Oregon.