C8 The BulleTin • Sunday, June 20, 2021
Nonprofits
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A survey by the Oregon Non-
profit Association found that
slightly more than half of the
472 Oregon nonprofits were
concerned about their ability to
maintain service levels.
“People were as or more gen-
erous during the pandemic as
they were in the past,” said Ann
Richardson, Deschutes Land
Trust acting executive director.
“It was kind of surprising the
strength of the gifts during the
pandemic year. We were happily
surprised.”
But at Locavore, Nicolle
Timm-Branch, president and
founder of the nonprofit that
advocates for locally sourced
food, said moving the annual
Holiday Gift Faire to an online
marketplace netted the group
about 15% less than in a normal
year. Funds raised at this annual
event support farm-related pro-
grams.
“It was a big financial hit for
the organization, as that is one
of our primary fundraisers for
the year,” said Timm-Branch.
“Fortunately we were able to
cover the deficit with other
funding opportunities related to
COVID-19 relief, so it has not
affected our budget for projects
this year.”
While government grants
were available for some non-
profits, it was the earned in-
come that was most negatively
affected, according to the state-
wide survey. In Oregon, there
are 21,500 registered charita-
ble organizations, employing
200,000 people with an annual
payroll of $10 billion, according
to the Oregon Department of
Justice.
“Nonprofits did everything
from not holding an event, to
conducting a drive-by or virtual
event,” said Kirsten Saladow,
Nonprofit Association of Ore-
gon director of communications
and advancement. “We had a lot
of nonprofits that were incredi-
bly nimble in finding other ways
to make up those dollars.
“No one stopped their pro-
grams.”
Saladow believes that non-
profits will incorporate some
of the COVID-19 fundraising
methods that offer low risk into
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From left, Brenda Reynoso, Abigail Reynoso, Janet Hernandez and Karen Correa, with
Oregon Child Development Coalition of Madras, pick up food Tuesday at the
NeighborImpact food bank in Redmond.
their in-person events going for-
ward. Some fundraisers could
be held as early as this summer,
but most certainly by the fall,
she said.
“They’ll continue to do what
works,” Saladow said. “The pur-
pose of a gala or event is for
fundraising, but it is successful
because it can tell what the or-
ganization does and who it im-
pacts.”
At NeighborImpact, food dis-
tribution is just one of 11 pro-
grams the nonprofit operates,
said Suzette Chapman, chief de-
velopment officer. Each year the
organization holds a fundraiser
called Empty Bowls, which
grosses about $50,000.
People come and enjoy a
bowl of soup in a handmade
pottery bowl. The goal is to in-
crease awareness of food inse-
curity in the region, she said.
Funds raised supplement public
funding sources and are used
to pay for the vehicle mainte-
nance and for delivering food
that is provided by the USDA
to food pantries, free food mar-
kets, emergency shelters and
churches that feed about 30,000
people a month, said Chapman.
In 2020, the group took
Empty Bowls virtual, packaging
dehydrated soups created by the
Central Oregon Community
College Cascade Culinary In-
stitute with bowls and gift cards
from Village Baker.
“We were able to preserve
the spirit of the event,” Chap-
man said. “We still made some
money, grossing about $40,000.
We’re hoping to do it again, but
in person in November.”
Boosting awareness through
social media channels, direct
mail and reaching out to do-
nors one-on-one were other
measures the group employed
to bring in more donations, she
said.
At Partners in Care, which
operates the Hospice House
in-patient hospice facility, the
group quickly realized that
when pandemic-related mea-
sures were implemented to limit
the spread of the virus, it needed
to revise its gala for the capital
campaign to raise $6 million for
the construction project.
“We weren’t able to do the tra-
ditional forms of fundraising,”
said Marlene Carlson, Partners
In Care director of Develop-
ment and Communications.
“Our whole fundraising strategy
pivoted, and we created a new
fundraising plan in light of the
pandemic.”
There were video meet-
ings with donors, public pleas
through traditional advertising,
a lot of phone calls and drawing
upon personal connections.
The organization received
grants, including a $1 mil-
lion matching grant from the
Tykeson Family Foundation,
and other major gifts from indi-
viduals like Stelle. The Tykeson
Family Foundation and Amy
Tykeson, a trustee of the foun-
dation, are investors in The Bul-
letin.
The 12-bed Hospice House
is about half built now and the
group has raised $3.6 million so
far toward the $12 million total
goal, Carlson said. The board of
directors opted to use $6 million
from its cash reserves and raise
the rest from the community.
“We learned that events are
awareness builders and can get
the community of people in-
volved who wouldn’t normally
be involved,” Carlson said. “The
pandemic showed us we had
to be more creative at creating
the buzz so that people would
talk about the organization over
their dinner table.”
They also learned that be-
cause Hospice House is an end-
of-life group, that families also
are potential donors because
they had an emotional relation-
ship with the organization.
Stelle, a 40-year Central Or-
egon resident, believes in the
mission of Partners in Care and
Hospice House.
“I think it’s important to be
philanthropic, and that is im-
portant to the survival of our
economy and our nation,” Stelle
said. “It’s important to do that.
You have to support your com-
munity and the organizations
you are passionate about.”
e
Reporter: 541-633-2117,
sroig@bendbulletin.com
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