Class
Article
College
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department
English Department
Faculty Mentor
Jayme Walters
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Rural nonprofits in the U.S. strive to maintain and improve the quality of life in rural communities, but in many cases are lacking the resources to be effective. Rural nonprofits often have larger services areas while operating with less funding. Little is known about rural nonprofit fundraising and grant writing capacity because previous research has focused on nonprofits in general or urban nonprofits. With differences in organization size, community demographics, and geographical contextual issues, rural nonprofits may need to use different strategies to achieve financial health and stability. Further, rural communities in the U.S. were differentially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with double the infection and mortality rates of urban areas. COVID-19 and the resulting precautions and resource deficiencies have made nonprofit work challenging. The current study seeks to explore the fundraising and grant writing capacity and effectiveness of rural nonprofits as well as to understand how the pandemic has affected rural nonprofit fundraising capacity. Executive directors, board presidents, or fundraising staff (N = 139) were recruited via email and mail in spring 2021 to answer questions about their organizations. Ordered logit regression models were used to examine factors related to fundraising capacity of rural nonprofits across several domains, including fundraising strategies, grant writing, technology, and staff or board involvement in fundraising. Qualitative pattern coding was used to assess essay questions regarding changes due to the pandemic. We found that rural nonprofits scored highest in grant writing with almost 60% being in the top 75%. Organizations that paid outside grant writing consultants were more likely to have higher grant writing capacity. Organizations that had dedicated fundraising staff decreased grant writing capacity, as well as having less board and staff involvement in fundraising. This may be due to limited applicant pools resulting in hiring less experienced staff. Rural nonprofits in our sample scored the lowest on fundraising technology, which is consistent with past research on rural technology access. Utilizing fundraising technology was related to having more diverse fundraising streams. And organizations with diverse fundraising streams were more likely to have increased board and staff involvement in fundraising efforts. During the first year of the pandemic, organizations that adjusted their fundraising strategies, had a parent organization or were larger organizations, used fundraising technology, or had higher grant writing capacity were more likely to maintain stable fundraising and revenue during the pandemic. These findings will assist nonprofit leaders and stakeholders in understanding fundraising practices and organizational characteristics that helped or hurt fundraising outcomes during the pandemic as well as what organizational capacity looks like for rural nonprofits.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-8-2022 12:00 AM
Included in
Rural Nonprofit Fundraising Capacity: What Can We Learn From Current Practices?
Logan, UT
Rural nonprofits in the U.S. strive to maintain and improve the quality of life in rural communities, but in many cases are lacking the resources to be effective. Rural nonprofits often have larger services areas while operating with less funding. Little is known about rural nonprofit fundraising and grant writing capacity because previous research has focused on nonprofits in general or urban nonprofits. With differences in organization size, community demographics, and geographical contextual issues, rural nonprofits may need to use different strategies to achieve financial health and stability. Further, rural communities in the U.S. were differentially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with double the infection and mortality rates of urban areas. COVID-19 and the resulting precautions and resource deficiencies have made nonprofit work challenging. The current study seeks to explore the fundraising and grant writing capacity and effectiveness of rural nonprofits as well as to understand how the pandemic has affected rural nonprofit fundraising capacity. Executive directors, board presidents, or fundraising staff (N = 139) were recruited via email and mail in spring 2021 to answer questions about their organizations. Ordered logit regression models were used to examine factors related to fundraising capacity of rural nonprofits across several domains, including fundraising strategies, grant writing, technology, and staff or board involvement in fundraising. Qualitative pattern coding was used to assess essay questions regarding changes due to the pandemic. We found that rural nonprofits scored highest in grant writing with almost 60% being in the top 75%. Organizations that paid outside grant writing consultants were more likely to have higher grant writing capacity. Organizations that had dedicated fundraising staff decreased grant writing capacity, as well as having less board and staff involvement in fundraising. This may be due to limited applicant pools resulting in hiring less experienced staff. Rural nonprofits in our sample scored the lowest on fundraising technology, which is consistent with past research on rural technology access. Utilizing fundraising technology was related to having more diverse fundraising streams. And organizations with diverse fundraising streams were more likely to have increased board and staff involvement in fundraising efforts. During the first year of the pandemic, organizations that adjusted their fundraising strategies, had a parent organization or were larger organizations, used fundraising technology, or had higher grant writing capacity were more likely to maintain stable fundraising and revenue during the pandemic. These findings will assist nonprofit leaders and stakeholders in understanding fundraising practices and organizational characteristics that helped or hurt fundraising outcomes during the pandemic as well as what organizational capacity looks like for rural nonprofits.