Proposed Federal Cuts Would Leave Nonprofits Scrambling, Study Suggests
Proposed Federal Cuts Would Leave Nonprofits Scrambling, Study Suggests
Federal programs of interest to nonprofit organizations will be cut between $40 billion and $71.5 billion over the next five years, a new analysis of the most recent presidential and congressional budget proposals from the Washington, D.C.-based Aspen Institute suggests.
The Nonprofit Sector and the Federal Budget: Fiscal Year 2006 and Beyond (15 pages, PDF), by Alan Abramson, director of Aspen's Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy program, and Lester Salamon, director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies, suggests that private charitable giving would have to increase two to three times its current rate in order to offset proposed reductions in housing, employment, education, and social services programs. Excluding spending for health and income assistance, the budget proposed by Congress would cut funding for programs of interest to nonprofit groups by $40 billion between 2005 and 2010. If the president's proposals are enacted, these same programs would be cut by $71.5 billion over that period.
Moreover, while the proposed reductions would almost certainly increase demand for nonprofit services, they would simultaneously reduce the funding many nonprofits have available to meet existing needs. According to the report, the first of a series Aspen will issue on the sector's fiscal health, public-sector funds have far surpassed private philanthropy as a source of nonprofit funding since the 1970s, and account for nearly one-third of total nonprofit sector income. Charitable donations, in contrast, account for just one-fifth of nonprofit income. It's unlikely, therefore, that donations by individuals, foundations, and corporations will offset reductions in federal spending.
To read or download the complete report, visit: http://www.nonprofitresearch.org/usr_doc/NS&FedBdgt.pdf.
“Will Proposed Federal Budget Cuts Leave Nation's Disaster-Recovery Groups Further at Risk.”
Aspen Institute Press Release
9/14/05.
Primary Subject: Public Affairs
Location(s): National, United States, Washington, D.C.
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