A shifting landscape for Island nonprofits

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The temporary closure of an arts institution that has opened its doors to audiences in Chilmark for more than 50 years signifies for some Island leaders that local nonprofits — a significant and growing sector of the economy of Martha’s Vineyard — are facing a more difficult fundraising climate. 

The Yard, which provides dance performances, residencies, and classes, announced in a Monday morning email blast that it is taking a year off from programming to reconsider its future, at a time when cuts are being made by the federal government and big, national endowments are shifting their focus.

“As I am sure there are many hard conversations happening in board meetings across the many Island nonprofits, the Yard’s board felt it was the right thing,” Yard board president Michele Sasso said. “We did not take this decision lightly, but felt it was necessary to give time to reimagine what cultural organizations, and the Yard specifically, would look like in the ever-changing environment.”

The Yard’s announcement comes in the wake of national funders the Andrew Mellon Foundation, Doris Duke Foundation, and Ford Foundation — which have supported the arts for decades — prioritizing different causes, according to reporting by NPR and other outlets. 

On the Island, several other nonprofits have also been hit or are worried about a decrease in grant funding, including groups assisting the Island’s homeless and food-insecure.

“People are worried that the models right now are not sustainable,” said Jackie Friedman, executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Nonprofit Collaborative. The collaborative counsels and works with the hundreds of nonprofits around the Island. “Many nonprofits experienced disruption in grants and funding in the spring. The uncertainty and changes to predictability in funding streams forced many nonprofits to diversify funding streams, creating more local events, and looking to local grants and donors to support sustainability.”

Through a survey undertaken in the spring, the collaborative reached 22 nonprofits on the Island and found that half were reliant on federal grants. Of those 11, seven saw cuts to their funding. A quarter of those reported feeling financial strain, and a third reported delayed projects because of the cuts.

The collaborative also keeps track of the number of nonprofits on the Island, and is finding they have grown considerably. It reports that there were 297 nonprofits registered in 2022. This year, that has grown to 489 on the Vineyard. 

With more nonprofits and less grant funding, some are seeing donations go to more essential services as national funding draws back. The Yard saw that as it tried to raise more funding.

“We have longtime supporters of the Yard that have done tremendous work, volunteering and making financial donations,” executive director of the Yard Stephanie Pacheco told The Times. “But folks are being transparent that there are a lot of causes where they are spending their money and their time. Instead of spreading smaller donations across many nonprofits, it might be to fund local food banks, or women’s reproductive health.”

MVY Radio is among the local organizations facing a significant budget cut because of federal decisions. In July, the Trump administration shut down the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, canceling about $1.1 billion in funds to local television and radio. Those cuts trickled down to what amounts to about a 10 percent reduction in MVY’s budget, or $200,000. The station was expecting to receive the funds this fall. 

Executive Director P.J. Finn said the station is still financially stable, and has no plans to make any cuts to staff or programming; instead, it will double down on efforts to fundraise the lost grant money for next year’s budget. The station will have a pledge drive in October to raise the rest of the year’s needed money before taking the rest of the year to raise the additional $200,000.

And Finn is confident that the public will come through, as they have in the past. “I feel optimistic that the listeners’ support will be there,” Finn said. “I think people understand what is happening in terms of nonprofits being defunded; they know the importance we play for the community, and they will step up — whether it is for us or the Yard — to counteract the forces that are causing the defunding.”

Not all institutions are feeling the pinch, at least now. The Martha’s Vineyard Museum, for example, does not rely on federal grants for its operating budget. Heather Seager with the museum said that while private donations may be going more to essential services, it has a committed group of donors who believe the museum is essential to the community, and has not seen a decrease in funding. That said, they are keeping a close eye out: “We are paying very close attention, and thinking about how this will impact what we are doing, but nothing has prompted us to think we need to change course or make any decisions at this point.” 

The Yard, meanwhile, has been a thriving arts organization on the Vineyard since 1973. It is using the changes as an opportunity to foster new partnerships, consider models of sustainability, and look for new ways to succeed.

Yard staff say that about 5 percent of the budget is funded through tickets and other earned revenue, while the rest is made up of private donations and grants. According to a 990 tax filing from 2023 published by ProPublica, the latest available, the Yard reported receiving about $292,000 in donations out of about $710,000 in total contributions, along with about $45,000 in earned revenue. That’s to cover $1.5 million in expenses. 

What the funding model and services provided will look like after a year of contemplation is to be determined, but they note it won’t be what has been given to the community in recent years.

“During the next year, we will work hand-in-hand with community members, artists, and partners to envision the Yard’s next chapter,” Pacheco said in a statement. “We will conduct a full strategic review of programming, operations, and facilities, building upon our 2024 strategic business plan and longstanding capital plan, while remaining attentive to new philanthropic opportunities and the shifting economic climate.” 

Pacheco said that it will likely take nonprofits across the Island working together to find solutions to remain resilient over the coming years, in the face of federal cuts. She is optimistic that they will come back with strong programming, albeit different than in prior years.

“Without federal grants, it means that individual private donors and private foundations are having to make harder choices, because the need has ratcheted up so high across all these nonprofits.”