The nonprofit sector in the Bexar County region has seen steady growth over the past several years, according to a recent report. But half of the nonprofits surveyed say they couldn’t keep up with the demand for services and the top need among them was, unsurprisingly: Funding.
Since 2018, Bexar County and 12 surrounding counties added 109 new nonprofits — a 12% increase, according to the report. There were 2,583 nonprofits in the region, according to their most recent tax filings. Most of them, or 67%, are in Bexar County or San Antonio.
Nonprofits in the region reported $15.3 billion in revenue and $13.6 billion in expenses in 2023.
Some of those nonprofits’ growth and sustainability were supported by federal pandemic recovery funds, which are required to be allocated throughout the U.S. by Dec. 31 and spent by the end of 2026. With that money dwindling, nonprofits are preparing to transition away from that one-time funding toward more traditional sources — which can also be unpredictable.
“There’s always funding shifts with foundations and corporate [donors] and people that fund nonprofits,” said Scott McAninch, CEO of The Nonprofit Council. “Diversity of funding is critical for nonprofits.”
The 2024 State of the Nonprofit Sector report was the result of a partnership between The Nonprofit Council, Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce and Community Information Now. The effort was funded by Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas and the San Antonio Area Foundation.
The report — which uses data from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Labor and Statistics and a digital survey answered by nonprofit respondents — gives an overview of just how large Bexar County’s nonprofit sector has grown and how much it has changed in recent years.
The sector has also grown statewide.
The number of nonprofits in Texas grew by 22% between 2015 and 2022 to more than 130,000, according to the most recent Built for Texas report.
“Revenue, however, lags far behind this growth, which stifles full impact potential,” that report states. “Factors that limit revenue growth include the shifting trends in giving and economic uncertainty.”
Charitable giving in the U.S. peaked in 2021 during the pandemic, but total giving in 2023 was down 2% from the previous year when adjusted for inflation, according to Giving USA.
More nonprofits also means more competition for a shrinking pool of funding from public, private and individual sources.
Changes in nonprofits
There’s also been a shift in focus within the nonprofit sector, noted Jane Paccione, managing director of Collective Impact at the San Antonio Area Foundation.
Nonprofits geared toward community health and wellness now account for 60% of the sector, up from 52% in 2017.
That’s likely due to the pandemic, Paccione said, as well as a rapidly aging population.
“It’s an outcome of this longevity dividend that we’ve been given — 2034 be the first time in U.S. history older adults [will] outnumber younger people,” she said. “We want our older adults to live longer, healthier lives. … That’s why we’re seeing a lot of these health interventions or programs or policies that support health.”
State and federal governments have also reeled in the expanded benefits afforded to residents during the pandemic, such as food stamps and other assistance programs, said Rick Cohen, chief operating and communications officer for the National Nonprofit Council.
“All of the pandemic programs wind down at the same time that a lot of people are losing these expanded benefits and needing to turn to them for help,” Cohen said. “That’s at the same time that donations are declining. So the nonprofits have more demand for services, the services cost more to deliver because of inflation, and there’s a decline in the revenues that they’re bringing in.”
In 2016, small nonprofits in Bexar County and the surrounding area (with budgets of $300,000 or less), accounted for 40% of the area’s total nonprofits. In 2023, that share grew to 47%.
Competition for funding
United Way of Bexar County and San Antonio has seen the competition for funding tighten in recent years.
“Resources are limited — the ability to invest in programs that do good things for people in this community is getting more and more challenging,” said Chris Martin, president and CEO of the local United Way chapter. “When you add numbers to that in terms of those seeking funding, obviously it’s going to create a much more competitive environment throughout.”
For its latest round of requests for proposals, United Way had $15 million to invest in area nonprofits. It received $59 million in requests, Martin said.
“I know that more and more small nonprofits are popping up all the time, and I just can’t imagine how that helps us really move the needle on complex problems,” said Denise Barkhurst, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas. “Kids are worse off now than they were 30 years ago.”
The needle doesn’t appear to be moving in the right direction on some key metrics in San Antonio.
San Antonio remains one of the most impoverished big cities in the U.S. Nearly half of households in Bexar County are one unexpected bill or emergency away from not being able to make ends meet or already can’t, according to the nonprofit United for ALICE. Data also shows that homelessness remains relatively flat, with local shelters routinely at capacity or overflowing.
“With the scarcity of resources and the increase of need, I think in the next few years we’re going to be at a pivotal point where we’ve got to be looking at mergers,” said Kim Jefferies, president and CEO of Haven for Hope, the city’s largest homeless shelter and resource hub.
“We need to be rallying support for nonprofits, and really sharing the impact nonprofits have on this community,” said Jefferies, a previous chair of The Nonprofit Council. “If we lose nonprofits, we lose some of the fabric that makes San Antonio so great in such a compassionate city.”
Without nonprofits, especially in a state like Texas, which funds education and social safety net services at lower levels than other states, the community would be far worse off, many in the sector explained. The Nonprofit Council produced a short film, “The Influencer: A Day Without Nonprofits,” to illustrate just that, McAninch said.
“What the nonprofits do to support the community is pretty awesome,” he said.
Over the next several weeks, the San Antonio Report will explore the challenges and opportunities that public service nonprofits have in Bexar County. Have a tip or unique perspective on the nonprofit sector? Contact iris@sareport.org.
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