Charitable giving vulnerable to cuts when times turn tough - Business First of Columbus:

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Business at , their direct mail company in is down 25 percent to 35 percent comparecdwith 2008, and times are “We’ve cut back. My partner and I have takeb pay cuts and laid off all of our Watkins said. Capital List is a finalistt forthis year’s Columbus Business First Corporate Caringf Awards. As the recession has many businesses have cut operation s tothe bone, lettinbg staff go in the process. So reducing cash donations to nonprofits seems likea no-brainer in the hunt for fat to Charities are beginning to feel the The is $3.5 million short of its fundraisin goal.
The usually receives a lot of year-en d donations from companies, but last year many just never officials from the organizations That doesn’t mean the economhy has soured the will to do good. “Wde can’t just stop giving,” Watkins said. “We have to trim where we can and hope that when thing turn around we can put things back in The recession, coupled with a reluctance to completelgy end corporate giving, has spurred business and nonprofits to find ways to navigater the financial crisis together.
“The revenues companies have lost are no so nonprofits are pretty open to talking aboutg how that willimpact donations,” said Kennyy Taylor, CEO of nonprofit consulting firm in Austin, Texas. When a businessx either can’t give as much money as it had expecterdor can’t give anything at all to a a frank conversation can pay dividends. “Even if the news is bad, it’s better than no news at all,” said Allen Proctor, a nonprofit consultant and principall of in Worthington who writes a column for BusineszsFirst . “Nonprofits need to know how to Let them know if thedecision (to lower or the donation is a one-year decisiom or permanent.
Any certainty is better than uncertainty.” To their many companies in Central Ohio have been givingb advance notice if they plan to reduce oreliminater donations, he said. Businesses and nonprofits are, after all, in a and the “hallmark of any successful relationship is communication,” said Barbara Acton, executive directorf of the Childhood League Center. “We want to talk abouy how we might work togethergoing forward, and we want to maintaimn a good relationship so that when the econom y does turn around, we can hopefully return (donations) to the levep they once were,” she said. “Wew want to know that we aren’t goint to lose you.
” As the pool of potential cash donations hasbecomwe smaller, the burning question has become, “If you have to cut, how can you continuee to help?” said Barbara Brandt, a philanthropy consultant in Columbus. There are many ways to said Kermit Whitfield, spokesman for the United Way ofCentrak Ohio. “It doesn’t have to be “Companies are turning more to volunteerism, and in-kind donations when it makes Brandt said. “If they don’gt have money, they can offer their people andtheird time.
” is one of several large Columbus donorz considering alternatives to cash