logo
  • Nonprofit News
  • Management
    • Boards and Governance
    • Communication
      • Framing & Narratives
    • Ethics
    • Financial Management
    • Grassroots Fundraising Journal
    • Leadership
    • Technology
  • Philanthropy
    • Corporate Social Responsibility
    • Donor-Advised Funds
    • Foundations
    • Impact Investing
    • Research
    • Workplace Giving
  • Policy
    • Education
    • Healthcare
    • Housing
    • Government
    • Taxes
  • Economic Justice
    • About
    • Economy Remix
    • Economy Webinars
    • Community Benefits
    • Economic Democracy
    • Environmental Justice
    • Fair Finance
    • Housing Rights
    • Land Justice
    • Poor People’s Rights
    • Tax Fairness
  • Racial Equity
  • Social Movements
    • Community Development
    • Community Organizing
    • Culture Change
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Gender Equality
    • Immigrant Rights
    • Indigenous Rights
    • Labor
    • LGBTQ+
    • Racial Justice
    • Youth Activism
  • About Us
  • Log in
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Featured Articles
  • Webinars
    • Free Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Tiny Spark Podcast
  • Magazine
    • Magazine
    • Leading Edge Membership
Donate
Management

Astounding Deficits at Brand-Name Charities Lurk Behind Sale of Nonprofit Buildings

Ruth McCambridge
May 4, 2018
Tweet63
Share42
Email
Share
By TheWorldTraveler [CC0], from Wikimedia Commons

May 3, 2018; LoHud.com

In Westchester County, New York, charities are busy selling off their buildings. Most recently, the American Cancer Society (ACS) headquarters in White Plains sold for $2.5 million, according to property records. That itself is perhaps unremarkable, except that in the same city, the YMCA building and the March of Dimes headquarters are also on the market.

A spokeswoman for ACS, Lestrange Mack, said in a statement, “For many reasons, we are moving away from owned property and management, where we are responsible for maintenance, upkeep, etc.” It turns out that they’ll be renting the space back from its new owners for a bit. The YMCA of Central and Northern Westchester also cites the unsustainable costs of maintaining its building.

Still, why the sudden worry about facilities costs? We decided to dive a little deeper. We reported last summer that the March of Dimes was looking to sell its building in the midst of a structural deficit. It had run a deficit in 2015 of more than $27 million on its $214 million budget; that was followed this year by a deficit of $8,725,000 on a $178 million budget. Since 2013, it has lost a third of its asset base, plummeting from $153 million to $94 million.

Looking even further, the American Cancer Society has been running deficits that make the March of Dimes look risk-averse. The deficit the organization lists on its 2016 Form 990 is $54 million, and the previous year, it ran a deficit of $91 million with total expenses of $916 million. The prior two years were less astounding, with 2013 showing a deficit of only $4 million and the next year cancelling that out with a surplus of around the same amount. The YMCA has also run deficits for the last three years, though at a much smaller scale.

Lastly, when we took a look at the finances of the Boy Scouts of America yesterday to see why they might be seeking to invite girls into their ranks, we found a recent history of significant deficits there, too. This may be a trend worth watching among some of the name-brand nonprofits that have dominated the scene.—Ruth McCambridge

Tweet63
Share42
Email
Share

About The Author
Ruth McCambridge

Ruth is the founder and Editor Emerita of the Nonprofit Quarterly. Her background includes forty-five years of experience in nonprofits, primarily in organizations that mix grassroots community work with policy change. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Ruth spent a decade at the Boston Foundation, developing and implementing capacity building programs and advocating for grantmaking attention to constituent involvement.

Related
The Evolutionary Problem of Art Behemoths in the Pandemic
By Ruth McCambridge
October 8, 2020
It’s Just Not Gonna Happen: A Small Nonprofit Becomes Homeless
By Ruth McCambridge
September 30, 2020
How to Repurpose a Defunct College: Nonprofits Morph during the Pandemic
By Marian Conway
September 30, 2020
Black-Led Groups to Get Seattle City Property
By Ruth McCambridge
September 25, 2020
Strong City Baltimore: A Fiscal Sponsor Melts Down
By Rob Meiksins
September 22, 2020
Nonprofits Face Workspace Dilemma in a Very Strange Market
By Ruth McCambridge
September 1, 2020

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
January 21, 2 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Health, Racial Disparities, and Economic Justice

other posts by The Author
Ruth was here, but now she’s gone…
By Ruth McCambridge
December 31, 2020
What’s in the Relief Bill Congress May Pass Today
By Ruth McCambridge
December 17, 2020
The PPP Loans of Private Foundations
By Ruth McCambridge
December 17, 2020
CYNDI SUAREZ
The Nonprofit Racial Leadership Gap: Flipping the Lens
Powerful Interests Seek to Make Puerto Rico the Hong Kong of the...
Moving Beyond the Privilege of White Tears
logo
Donate
  • About
  • Contact
  • Newsletters
  • Write for NPQ
  • Advertise
  • Writers
  • Funders
  • Copyright Policy
  • Privacy Policy
Registered 501(c)(3). EIN: 20-4080038

Subscribe to View Webinars