More than half of nonprofit executives (52%) surveyed said their organizations had cash on hand of three or fewer months and 18% had one month or less. That’s compounded by a majority (85%) of survey respondents expecting service demand to increase during 2025 but 36% of them having ended 2024 with an operating deficit.
The data is part of the Nonprofit Finance Fund’s (NFF) State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey report and comes amid inflation, uncertainty, and federal government funding pullbacks that impact education, healthcare, affordable housing, arts and culture, and more. That operating deficit is at the highest in 10 years of data tracked by the NFF.
The financial and operational data is from 2,206 nonprofits and is designed to guide funding and advocacy decisions at this crucial time. “Nonprofits are the infrastructure that we rely on to meet every day needs and epic challenges, and investments in this infrastructure yield sustained and substantial impact,” said Elise Miller, NFF’s senior director of community engagement and lead survey report author. “Nonprofits are also employers, connectors, and advocates. We all have a stake in keeping this infrastructure strong.”
The last time NFF conducted this survey (2022), nonprofits were overall in better financial shape. The COVID pandemic and calls for racial justice prompted more flexible funding and major public and private investments. That support is waning. There is an overlap of 163 respondents who took the survey in both 2022 and 2025, allowing for a direct comparison of their financial situation over time. The trends among these 163 are consistent with overall findings:
* 37% of repeat respondents operated at a deficit in 2024, significantly up from 13% in 2021; and,
* The percentage of repeat respondents with six or more months of cash on hand dropped from 36% to 26%.
“We are at a moment of reckoning in this country, determining what promises we make to each other and to future generations,” Aisha Benson, president and CEO of NFF, said via a statement. “Will we protect and nurture our resources, or run them into the ground to enrich a few? Nonprofits are resilient and responsive and know how to stretch a dollar. And those should be reasons to invest more in these organizations, not excuses for perpetual underfunding and outsized demands,” she said via the statement.
The report includes overall findings and recommendations for nonprofits, government, and philanthropic funders. It is the first in a series of survey analyses. Visit https://learn-nff.org/2025-survey-webinar to register for NFF’s June 18 webinar on survey findings and for information about future releases. The survey was conducted earlier this year in partnership with Ambit 360 Consulting and EVITARUS.
