“The situation facing nonprofits in Oregon is unprecedented,” said Kara Tachikawa, executive director of MountainStar Family Relief Nursery, who shared these sobering statistics:
- 80% of the state’s nonprofits have either already seen funding cuts (62%), or are expecting them in the very near future (18%);
- Those who have seen reductions had an average of 29% eliminated from their annual budgets, and 15% lost more than 50%;
- More than half of the nonprofits that have experienced cuts saw them in more than one type of government grant/contract — including federal, state, and local (county or city).
As one local example, Central Oregon media outlets recently reported that Redemption House Ministries, a Prineville nonprofit that delivers more than 200 food boxes a month to seniors and others in need, had its federal outreach funding cut from $115k to $27k this year — leaving it with less than a quarter of last year’s amount.
‘Really Uncertain’ Government Funding & ‘Surging Community Demand’
“The current funding environment is really uncertain,” said Tachikawa. “And what makes this particularly concerning is that government money has always been the largest piece of the funding pie.” (MountainStar, for instance, has historically relied on state government for 43% of its financing.)
Adding to the strain of trying to operate with reduced government allocations, nonprofits in Oregon and across the U.S. are also facing surging community demand due to major federal cuts and stricter eligibility rules for Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — as well as cost-of-living increases that make basic necessities less and less affordable to more and more people.
Bringing that close to home, Oregon is among the least affordable places to live in the U.S., and according to national studies by the Common Sense Institute, costs for a family of four have increased by more than $50k since 2020.
Foundation Grants — ‘Another Hard Edge’
According to Tachikawa, “Another ‘hard edge’ is that as federal and state funding is reduced, nonprofits are relying to a greater extent on foundations that, as a result, are getting more requests than ever before — as many as three-to-four-times as many applications — making this source more competitive. Even local governments are scrambling,” she said, “as district attorney offices, for example, are experiencing funding cuts.”
Budget Restructuring & Re-Examination of Services
As a result of these factors, many Oregon nonprofits are restructuring their entire budgets. As Tachikawa has learned in talking with other executive directors, “This takes the form of creating three budgetary tiers: going ahead as planned; functioning if only small cuts are experienced; and trying to survive if forced into starvation mode.”
Another born-of-necessity strategy, as articulated by Kim Gammond, executive director of Habitat for Humanity of La Pine Sunriver, is to re-examine the services offered. “We’ll have to acknowledge that this is the economic reality setting in, and adapt to it — even if this means determining which programs remain feasible or necessary.”
‘Background Level of Stress’
Yet another challenge, Tachikawa noted, is that “economic uncertainty has created a background level of stress, and is a consistent topic of conversation among nonprofit leaders. In many cases, this stress “has resulted in — or is verging on — staff burnout,” she said.
At the national level, The Center for Effective Philanthropy found that 46% of nonprofit CEOs now say burnout is “very much” a concern, up from 29% in 2025. This is not limited to top leadership: 25% of CEOs report burnout is significantly impacting their staff, and 56% say they are managing in an atmosphere of heightened fear, stress, and low morale.
Increasing Reliance on Individual Donors
As nonprofits are less able to depend on the government and foundations for operational funding, “this puts pressure at the individual giving level, and has resulted in more asking,” said Gammond.
At MountainStar, Tachikawa has seen that more affluent people are “wanting to be really generous.” The organization’s 2026 flagship annual fundraiser, for example, “was our largest event ever,” she said.
Randy Graves, executive director of the Redmond Senior Center, noted that “For the last two years, our end-of-year capital campaign reached its $100k goal (with four people contributing $10k each). As a result, we have been able to put a sizeable amount of money aside that allows me to sleep at night.”
The organization has seen paid membership and annual donations grow by over 300% in the past two years, enabling expanded services and deeper community impact that inspire financial support. It was chosen by the Redmond Chamber of Commerce as its most recent “Business of the Year” in the customer service category — an accolade earned because “We love what we do, and it shows,” said Graves.
‘Making a Difference’
“Because of what’s happening, and an awareness of greater needs, people seem more likely to volunteer, if they are able to do so,” said Betsy Warriner, who was named Bend’s 2017 Woman of the Year for her tireless work in volunteerism and community engagement.
She added: “To the people who ask ‘What can I do?’ my answer is that even one little step makes a difference — analogous to the importance of a single vote in elections. There’s no better anecdote to feeling helpless than getting involved with other people in making a difference — we can inspire each other to take on problems and try to find solutions to the challenges we’re facing.”
