Like the large and small business and government sectors in Nova Scotia, the nonprofit and voluntary sector is being profoundly challenged to respond to the arrival of COVID-19. This survey by the Community Sector Council of Nova Scotia (CSCNS) was designed to get an initial snapshot of the sector and the impacts. This report reflects the responses of over 500 senior leaders across the province. The findings are a strong representation of the sector and can be taken as a reliable reflection of the needs of the sector which should inform policy decisions and responses by foundations, governments and other funders, and supporters of the sector such as corporations. Key findings of this study are:

  • The biggest impact is cancelling events (91%) but it is closely followed by disruptions to services to clients and customers at 77% and challenges of staffing and managing volunteers from a distance at 50%. Laying off staff was reported by 29% of the sector and 46% reported insufficient financial resources.
  • The sector is responding in various ways but only 7% of the sector is operating normally and 31% report shutting their doors until further notice. None of the respondents report that they will have to permanently shut down their operations at this time. 46% are still operating but with modifications such as working from home.
  • Service disruptions are extensive and 27% are experiencing increasing demands, 40% decreasing, and the remainder staying stable at 33%.
  • The financial picture is particularly challenging. 57% of nonprofits are losing revenue from fundraising events being canceled, 55% are losing from cancellation of revenue generating events such as productions that have ticket sales, 37% are losing revenue from sales of goods and services, 37% are missing out on membership fees and other fees and 46% are going to be missing out on project funding.
  • In terms of their estimate of the financial impact over the next 6 months 14% said they will have no financial impacts, 43% report less than $49,000 of impact and 20% report between $50,000 and $100,000 while 22% said they will suffer an impact of more than $100,000.

Read the full report here.