By: Teleangé Thomas, Director of Partnerships, Midwest at Candid;

The Cost of Doing Good in a Pandemic

– “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.” These words were spoken by our 16^th U.S. President, Abraham Lincoln, someone who understood well a country in crisis.

For the entirety of 2020, the world has been living in crisis due to the widespread COVID-19 virus. We have all been seeking information and discerning truth as we try to make decisions that will impact our health, safety, livelihood and sense of normalcy.

Since the onset of COVID-19, Candid has been tracking and monitoring philanthropy’s response to the crisis. Candid gets you the information you need to do good. Our mission and commitment to an effective social sector remains steadfast. Here are a few highlights that we have uncovered related to philanthropy’s response in the U.S.:

• As of April 13, 2020, $6.7 billion dollars has been allocated towards COVID-19 response
• Approximately 525 funds have been established in the U.S. to respond to COVID-19
• Funds have been distributed to support these causes:

You can find additional information on funding support, news and data by visiting https://candid.org/explore-issues/coronavirus

Nonprofits ranging from grassroots to legacy organizations are all feeling the impact of COVID-19. For some, it is the duality of increased demand and decreased revenue; for others, shrinking workforce, program and service disruption and financial instability. Most organizations have less than three-months operating support, so the strain and stress they feel is real and it has a ripple effect across the communities and populations that their missions serve.

Community Foundations have been diligent in their response. They have been mindful to reduce barriers to accessing grant funds by relaxing proposal guidelines, expediting grant cycles and easing the guidelines for use of the funds. These are encouraging steps towards meeting immediate need in the community, but long-term strategies to stabilize and bolster the social sector is imperative. Particularly as inequities continue to widen among this crisis.

While disparity and inequity has walked among us for generations, the COVID-19 pandemic has further illuminated the gaps in wages, transportation, employment, access to healthcare, housing stability, technology and more.

The nonprofit ecosystem is dynamic, complex and vital. The inequities that burden society’s most vulnerable requires courageous and strategic response, coordination, cooperation, investment and an unapologetic focus on root causes, including structural racism. While pathogens don’t discriminate, we know that the poor, people of color and other marginalized communities disproportionately feel the burden of this crisis.