Posted on January 3, 2011

Connecticut Nonprofits Putting Capital Campaigns on Hold, Report Finds

Despite the slowly improving economy, Connecticut nonprofits are struggling to raise funds through capital campaigns, three new reports from the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy find.

The reports, which include information on sixty-four current, anticipated, and completed campaigns in the Greater Hartford, New Haven, and Fairfield County areas, show that only 42 percent of the combined goal across all campaigns has been raised or pledged to date. Campaigns that targeted a national audience — including those of Trinity College ($350 million), Yale University ($3.5 billion), and the University of Connecticut ($600 million) — were not included in the analysis.

According to the reports, the campaigns reported a combined goal of $492 million in 2010, down almost 34 percent from the combined goal of $745 million in 2009 — in part because of many large campaigns coming to a close. Of the twenty-two campaigns that closed in 2010, only three met their stated goal, while eight organizations decided not to move forward with their campaigns. Of the fifty-two campaigns that continued into 2010, only ten made significant progress toward their goals, while eighteen showed no change.

The reports also found that the economic downturn has taken a toll on the introduction of new campaigns, with only thirteen campaigns launched in 2010, twelve in 2009, and ten in 2008, compared to an average of twenty-four in each of the three years prior to 2008.