Some 40 percent of public charities and private foundations reported a drop in contributions between Jan. 1 and May 31, according to an economic survey conducted by GuideStar. The survey also found 8 percent of the organizations are “in imminent danger of closing.”

Among the survey's findings:
o To balance their budgets, 17 percent of respondents reduced program services, and 11 percent laid off employees
o More than 60 percent of participants reporting decreased contributions attributed the drop to a decline in both the number of individual donors and the size of their donations
o Among organizations that use volunteers, 17 percent used one or more in what had formerly been paid positions
o On the contributions front, 28 percent of surveyed nonprofits said that contributions had stayed about the same, while 30 percent reported an increase.

The organization asked 6,679 groups how they are faring during the slowdown. The sector, GuideStar concludes, “continued to take a beating” during the first half of the year.