As governments cut back their grant-giving, who’s keeping nonprofits afloat? Businesses and private donors. For that, everyone should give a tip of the hat.
“The grants are drying up at a rapid clip, yet the needs keep pouring in.”
That’s a quote we hear often in our newsroom, our business office and in the advertising realm these days.
The programs nonprofits provide are too vital to lose, we’re often told. It’s true. Nonprofits fill community needs that government can’t — or won’t — perform. Nonprofits are flexible and agile, able to change at a moment’s notice.
The clients and those in need are in too dire a situation for inaction, they argue. Yes, often that’s the stark reality.
Or, what about the student athletes? Their opportunities are too few or fleeting to pass up, we hear.
These are all true statements; ones we agree with.
And so the money must come from somewhere. These days, from all corners of the state, donations continue to materialize from our local businesses, both large and small, as well as from Outside corporations.
Take the recent example of the Juneau Community Foundation, which just announced a million-dollar gift to a number of local Juneau nonprofits. The foundation can give that money away because a private donor, with proceeds from a local business, contributed. The Hope Endowment Fund annually will directly benefit the clients served by a number of nonprofits.
On a smaller scale, businesses donate regularly to assist all kinds of needs, from ski suits to sports club travel, from literacy programs to public radio.
So how do you, the everyday resident, support these businesses and effectively say, “Thank you”?
Spend your money with them, subscribe to their programs, drive a little further to show your appreciation for their goodwill. And yes, to steal a line from Juneau’s catchy radio jingle, “look local first.”
We, locally and statewide, have good reason to be thankful for the contributions of businesses. Without their support, our dire fiscal climate would be a much harder storm to weather.
— Juneau Empire,
April 23
