The Murdock Trust is invested in the nonprofit ecosystem of the Pacific Northwest. In addition to providing capacity-building grants for individual nonprofit organizations and programming to support nonprofit development, the Trust supports collaborative research that helps us better understand the needs of our specific region.
Recently, we were thrilled to partner with the five state nonprofit associations in our funding region (The Foraker Group, Montana Nonprofit Association, Nonprofit Association of Washington, Nonprofit Association of Oregon, and Idaho Nonprofit Center) as well as Dialogues in Action, to administer a survey to 967 Pacific Northwest nonprofits. The survey is intended to inform the question: What is the current capacity of nonprofits in the Pacific Northwest states to carry out their missions?
The findings were clear that while Pacific Northwest nonprofits show remarkable strength in facing both external and internal challenges, there are many areas of capacity need that funders, donors, support organizations, and others in the community can support. Here are a few top findings:
- Missions and culture of Pacific Northwest nonprofits are strong.
- Resources and people are top perceived capacity needs.
- Organizations struggle with time, resources, and ability to measure impact.
- Succession planning and leadership development are high capacity needs.
Read the full report for all 12 high-level takeaways, detailed breakdowns and charts, and seven calls to action for nonprofit leaders, funders, policymakers, and capacity-builders to engage in collaboratively. While surveys of this kind cannot capture the full spectrum of nonprofit experience and the perception of all leaders, the insights are still valuable and will, we hope, prompt thoughtful reflection and action.
Thank you to each partner and nonprofit whose work and responses made this critical survey possible. May we use it to strengthen our collective investment in this region we live in and love!