State of the Sector: Nonprofits and Grantmakers in 2021

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In late 2021, Forefront administered surveys to the Illinois nonprofit and grantmaker communities inquiring about their status, needs, funding and service priorities, and how their practices and missions have evolved since the onset of the pandemic.

The resulting report contains responses from nearly 150 nonprofits and grantmakers representing organizations that serve or fund every county in Illinois. Respondents range from organizations with fewer than 5 staff to over 100 and those with annual budgets of less than $100,000 to over $10 million.

Forefront also asked respondents to indicate whether their CEO or Executive Directory identified as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color (BIPOC)* or African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, Native American (ALAANA)* to further track how the pandemic has affected organizations based in, serving, or funding BIPOC/ALAANA communities.

We found prevailing trends for both nonprofits and foundations:

Nonprofits are staying flexible and financially optimistic, but they need more support.
Foundations are not, on average, increasing their giving rates in line with their asset growth.
BIPOC/ALAANA-led nonprofits and foundations alike are trying to cover more ground with fewer people.
Deep and meaningful communication between foundations and nonprofits remains critical.

Access the complete report.

*This article from the YWCA does a great job explaining why we chose to use the BIPOC acronym in this report. This summary from Grantmakers in the Arts provides similar details for the acronym ALAANA.

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