By JAMIE KELLY of the Missoulian | Posted: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 11:05 pm
Larry Swanson was 45 minutes into his slide lecture on Montana's economy and demographics when a hand shot up:
"Where do nonprofits fit into all of this?" asked a woman near the back of the meeting room at the Holiday Inn Downtown at the Park.
It was a fitting question at the annual conference of the Montana Nonprofit Association.
"The best way to think about nonprofits," said Swanson, an economist and director of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West, "is that you're everywhere. If anything only happened because a profit is being made, not a lot would be happening."
As goes the economy, so goes the health of nonprofits, and vice versa, he told a crowded room of nonprofit leaders Wednesday.
And so it is in Missoula, which has more nonprofit groups, in sheer number and per capita, than any city in the state. The city is hosting the three-day annual meeting of the association, which represents more than 10,000 nonprofit employees in the state.
Missoula nonprofits, as well as many across the state, are feeling the deep pains of an economy in recession. Much of the focus of the conference was on fundraising challenges and strategies as the national recession approaches its two-year mark.
"It's a difficult time, and I feel a lot on my shoulders," said Fran Albrecht, executive director of the Watson Children's Shelter, which is in the midst of building a new home.
Albrecht is struck by how much the economy is really beginning to shake charities and other nonprofits.
"Everyone is looking for ways to be leaner and stronger, ourselves included," she said.
Watson, which houses abused and neglected children in Missoula, is doubly hit by the recession. First, child abuse and neglect tend to rise during hard economic times, Albrecht said. And second, the recession makes raising funds for that service more difficult.
Last year, the recession was painful. This year, the reality has sunk in for charities and the charitable.
A national CNN poll in March found that only 16 percent of nonprofits expected to meet their basic operating expenses this year, while half said the recession would permanently damage their operations.
"People last year were almost preparing for it," Albrecht said. "And now it has settled in. So I would say it's gotten worse, only because of the reality of it hitting."
And, as the center has about $1 million to raise over the next year, that is particularly troublesome.
"We're running into cash flow concerns," Albrecht said. "We haven't hit them yet, but we see them because the pledges are taking time."
Montana, which has fared better than most states in terms of unemployment (currently at 6.6 percent, compared to 9.7 percent nationally), will survive the recession, said Swanson, the economist. But for nonprofits to survive, they will have to recognize the cultural and demographic shifts that are shaping up.
Montana's population of those over 65 will double in 20 years. The state will have to invest more in education to keep its youthful workers. And quality-of-life issues - the environment, service, education, health care, open space, the arts - will continue to grow in importance as workers become more mobile.
That's where nonprofits will be the most important, said Swanson.
"If you don't have a high-quality community, you're not in the game," he said. "Period. Because people don't have to move there."
Above all, he said, communities like Missoula need to share a "common vision" - and that means more talking among community leaders, and especially among the nonprofits themselves, be they arts groups, charities or environmental advocates.
"We have to figure out ways of linking up these discussions and strategies," Swanson said. "Because to do them separately doesn't work that well."
Albrecht is counting on community to win the day.
"People are very much trying to be compassionate and generous," she said. "I'm regularly amazed and touched. ... They may not have a lot but they can do a little bit, and they continue to do it."
Reporter Jamie Kelly can be reached at 523-5254 or at jkelly@missoulian.com.