Vermont has an impressive record on land conservation but there is more work to be done to address climate change, improve water quality, and protect the...
Read the brief "Vermont Land Conservation: Getting it right" »
The state of crisis in Vermont is huge. As the pandemic continues and its long-term social and economic impacts are exposed, we face the stark reality that philanthropy, along with state and federal support, won’t be able to meet all the needs of Vermont nonprofits, the communities they serve, and the vital, mission-based work that these entities do. Collectively, we must acknowledge this, and must start the hard conversations about what recovery and resilience might look like in the months and years to come.
Here are a few statistics:
This creates a dire situation for many of our existing nonprofit service providers that provide critical access to basic human needs. Demand is up and resources are completely strained, but the same organizations aren’t immune to the impacts from the virus—and many are facing added restrictions to prevent the spread of infection.
Despite best efforts, from philanthropy and from government agencies, we will lose nonprofits in Vermont. I will repeat that. I believe many of the nonprofits that the state has come to rely on will be forced to shut down.
This will be a tremendous blow, economically and socially. Including health care and education, public charities generate nearly $6 billion and employ 1 in 7 Vermont workers. While only 3% of these nonprofits have budgets of $5 million or more (including the Community Foundation), 34% have revenue between $100,000 and $1,000,000. Losing these entities will impact individual communities that will then ripple across the state. Therefore, now is the time, to think hard about our nonprofits and their future, and how we might preserve, share, and grow their mission-based work to preserve social services in our state.
I am generally an optimistic person, and I believe that Vermont’s nonprofits are bold and courageous, providing key services to our communities, while actively listening and learning. But they’re struggling. Vermont needs to face this reality and start to plan. I am eager to see how this massive disruption can help Vermont’s communities, but it’ll include some hard and important conversations now.
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Read the brief "Vermont Land Conservation: Getting it right" »
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