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January 31, 2010; The Wall Street Journal | This article reveals some of the diagnostic language being used on struggling nonprofits, contrasting it against reality. Times are tough for nonprofits right now according to the Wall Street Journal: “Hit by a drop in donations and government funding in the wake of a deep recession, nonprofits—from arts councils to food banks—are undergoing a painful restructuring, including mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, cutbacks and closings.” The article quotes Diana Aviv from Independent Sector, one of the better known national infrastructure organizations purporting to represent or speak for the nonprofit sector, explaining that what is happening to nonprofits is more or less nonprofit Darwinism: “Like in the animal kingdom, at some point, the weaker organizations will not be able to survive.” The article, which does a good and detailed job of explaining the real human and community losses in the shadow of such a statement reports that human services groups may be the hardest hit of all the nonprofit fields. These groups comprise almost one-third of nonprofits and saw private donations fall 12.7% in 2008 while demand was on the rise. NPQ is following several organizations in our “Nonprofits in the Age of Obama” series where we look in depth at what organizations across the country and in a diversity of fields are facing. Additionally, we are reporting on what’s happening in specific states with the challenges to nonprofits posed by the combination of fiscal and economic conditions. We’ll continue to cover individual states, organizations and fields as the still troubled economy takes a toll on nonprofit service providers and the communities that depend on them.—Kristin Barrali
