By Anne Constable | The New Mexican
October 16, 2005

Nonprofits preparing for their end-of-the-year fundraising campaigns have one more thing to worry about -- disaster fatigue.

They fear their donors, who have already contributed to hurricane relief along the Gulf Coast and now to international aid organizations working in earthquake-ravaged Pakistan, will feel tapped out come December. Benefactors might give less -- or not at all.

Traditionally, nonprofits receive 80 percent of their annual contributions in the last two months of the year.

Many donors like Carlota Baca, director of the New Mexico Association of Grantmakers, collect envelopes sent to them in the fall by their favorite charities. In December, they sit down to make their decisions about how much to give. "Usually that's a time of joy," Baca said. "But this year, it's just going to be a little more uncomfortable. I'll just have to make harder decisions."

According to Billie Blair, president of the Santa Fe Community Foundation, "The real problem is going to be that people have reached out, done all these things for hurricane relief, and when it comes to the end of the year, will not be able to support extremely critical needs in our own community."

The Santa Fe area is home to a disproportionately high number of nonprofits -- some 700 by Blair's estimate. Disaster fatigue is hitting them on top of other challenges, including competition for grants, a sluggish economy, changing funding priorities of local foundations and higher energy costs.

"A lot of things are going on. Hurricane Katrina is just another cold wind blowing on our nonprofits," Blair said.

The Community Foundation received 200 applications for grants in its funding cycle beginning in July, a 40 percent increase over the previous year, she said. Many of those organizations are seeking help with basic operating expenses.

Among other local grantors, the McCune Charitable Foundation has shifted its funding priorities to economic development. The Daniel's Foundation has narrowed its focus.

And the Frost Foundation, which has strong ties to Louisiana, has announced it is sending all funds in its next granting cycle to the Gulf Coast. It is taking no applications from New Mexico. Mary Amelia Howell, whose great grandmother endowed the foundation, said directors had made initial selections for the current June-cycle grants. But after the hurricane, "we went back and cut again." She estimated the loss to Santa Fe nonprofits at $1 million.

Baca said other foundations will try to make up the difference, but many of them are also trying to help in rebuilding Gulf Coast communities -- and some are also still trying to respond to the tsunami in South Asia late last year. Nonprofits are also expecting federal funding that normally comes their way to be diverted to the Gulf.

Baca said she thought the most vulnerable organizations would be the small nonprofits, the "little jewels that do something small, but terribly important," like Gerard's House, a grief-support center for children, teens and families.

The Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society, which exhausted its reserves in opening a new state-of-the-art facility earlier this year, reports that donations are down 65 percent from projections. And in addition to its regular population, the shelter is housing 40 canine evacuees from the New Orleans area.

Director Duane Allen said many of the shelter's regular donors are giving to national animal-rescue groups, but the money is not trickling back to Santa Fe. The shortfall could affect day-to-day operations as well as the shelter's ability to implement nonessential innovative new programs, he said.

Board president Roddey Burdine said other U.S. shelters are facing similar problems. "It is understandable that people want to help in Louisiana. But they have to realize that the local shelters need their help as well." He said animal lover and actress Ali MacGraw recently filmed a public-service announcement at the shelter to encourage local giving.

Tanya Doriss, director of IMPACT Personal Safety, which teaches full-contact self-defense courses in Northern New Mexico, said her group was already feeling the pinch. IMPACT submitted 22 grant applications this year and received only three, she said. Normally, the group's success rate is about 75 percent. IMPACT is also getting less money from the city because of the decline in gross-receipts-tax revenues. And major donors are cutting back, writing checks for $500 instead of $5,000, Doriss said.

No nonprofits begrudge money going to New Orleans, she stressed, but "we're watching money that supports services in our own community be siphoned off at an unbelievable rate."

Doriss hopes she's wrong. But "my guess is that in the next five years we're going to see an amazing increase in the number of nonprofits going out of business or dramatically reducing services," she said.

Katrina Huffaker was working at the College of Santa Fe in September 2001. One day after terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the college sent out its big fundraising mailing for the year. "Nothing came in," Huffaker recalled.

This year Huffaker, now the director of development at La Familia Medical and Dental Center, was wiser. After Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf Coast, she postponed her "soft" mailing to donors from Sept. 1 until Sept. 15. But it still garnered less than $2,000, about half of what she expected.

The annual fund mailing, which includes a letter asking directly for money, went out Oct. 15, instead of Oct. 1. In the letter, Huffaker acknowledged the need to support disaster-relief agencies, but gently encouraged people to give to La Familia. "Some can afford both; some can't. We absolutely respect that," she said. But "with nonprofits, the needs in our community don't stop because of hurricanes."

David Barrett, director of the Southwest C.A.R.E. Center, which provides medical services to the HIV/AIDS community, said tickets go on sale for the annual Aid & Comfort gala at the Eldorado Hotel in three weeks, and "we're holding our breath." Referring to the need for financial aid in Pakistan, he added, "A lot of people in Santa Fe have a particular affinity for that part of the world."

Ginger Roherty, development director at the Children's Museum, said her experience at St. John's College, from which she retired last year, suggested that when people feel an emotional attachment to institutions, their gifts sometimes increase in spite of disasters. "My attitude," she said, "is not to buy into the negative. (After Sept. 11,) we tried not to be maudlin in our appeal and to be sensitive to people's feelings, but still make the case that life goes on and colleges still rely on the generosity of donors."

KC Quirk said the Frost Foundation cut Esperanza Shelter's grant allocation from $20,000 to $15,000 after the hurricane hit. But the shelter was the beneficiary of the mayor's ball held earlier this month, a one-time opportunity. Quirk said she thought the shelter for battered families made its goal of $50,000 in ticket sales and sponsorships. But she is concerned about whether the organization will continue to get funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (via the United Way of Santa Fe County) for emergency shelter. And she's concerned about the annual fundraising campaign that begins next month. Usually it brings in $20,000 to $25,000.

"Federal funding is going to be affected by humanitarian relief and rerouting of funding to rebuild Iraq. That's the place where we could take the biggest and hardest hits," she said. "These national and international events affect what happens on the ground floor."

Partners in Education director Teri Thompson Randall recently sent out 275 letters asking for money and has received more than $6,000 so far. The appeal usually brings in $5,000 to $8,000. She said she carefully worded the letter, mailed as Rita bore down on the Gulf Coast. After acknowledging the deep concern about displaced Americans, she wrote: "We cannot forget that the education of our children remains an ongoing responsibility for our community."

Radio station KSFR is hitting its marks during the current on-air drive, according to general manager Dal Dearman, but Christina Lord, the underwriting director, said finding sponsors is a yearlong job and "definitely one of my concerns" in the next couple of months.

The Grantmakers' Baca decided at the last minute to substitute a roundtable on disaster relief at the concluding session of her organization's annual philanthropy conference in Ruidoso on Nov. 2-4. The government and big national nonprofits can fund immediate relief. But smaller nonprofits can be more strategic and get more bang for their buck, she believes. "Philanthropy very often has the wherewithal and the wisdom to think long term," Baca said. "There will be consequences a decade from now from Katrina."

Baca said her conference will also include a roundtable on the cost of energy. With natural-gas prices 50 percent higher this year, nonprofits are facing much steeper operating expenses.

"I'm not going to say this is a perfect storm for the local nonprofit sector, but I'm extremely worried," Baca admitted.

When she sits down this year to make her own charitable-contribution decisions, Baca said, "I'll probably try to keep my money a little closer to home. I'm going to be more thoughtful."

Contact Anne Constable at 995-3845 or aconstable@sfnewmexican.com.

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