(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Amid the persistent challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, nonprofits across Ohio are struggling from the economic fallout at a time when the public and government need them most.
To better understand the situation, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office partnered with the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations, Philanthropy Ohio and researchers at The Ohio State University’s John Glenn College of Public Affairs to produce the ongoing The Ohio Nonprofit COVID-19 Survey to gather information on Ohio’s nonprofit organizations and how to help them through this difficult time in history.
The latest round of the survey, administered in August, shows that a majority of nonprofits that responded to the survey are operating below their normal budgets.
Ohio State researchers, Dr. Erynn Beaton, Liz Colchin and Yinglin Ma, said in their latest report on the survey that without a vibrant charitable sector, many Ohioans would be left unemployed and without vital resources.
“This latest survey shows that we need to rally around our nonprofit organizations and do what we can to support them,” Beaton said. “I hope that Ohioans will take advantage of the new CARES Act legislation that allows us to take an above the line deduction for charitable contributions in 2020.”
The attorney general is the state official charged with protecting and regulating the charitable sector. To that end, Yost’s office since April has partnered with the Ohio Association of Nonprofit Organizations, Philanthropy Ohio and Ohio State to carry out that mission.
The AGO in recent months has unveiled a new website offering guidance for charities. Donors, too, can benefit from the site, which contains, among other resources, the financial documents and governance policies that charities should have in place.
