In summer 2023, West Marin Fund conducted an online survey of thirty-eight West Marin nonprofits.
The ongoing purpose (over a period up to 10 years) is to provide information to West Marin nonprofits on how they are collectively faring, help funders and policymakers provide nonprofits with best
possible support, identify organizational trends, and address distinct topics in alternating years (e.g., programs/services in odd years, financials in even years)
The following results were compiled and analyzed by a local nonprofit consulting firm, J. Solomon Consulting.
Key Findings
Challenges:
Organizations reported many challenges in West Marin to be intractable; e.g., 82% reported decent, affordable housing for all to be very challenging or not achievable in the next 10 years.
Emergency response:
70% of organizations responded to at least 1 emergency in 2022, most commonly COVID.
Services:
Organizations collectively offer a wide range of major services, the most common of which is educational services, followed by civic engagement and youth development.
Staffing:
- From 2022 to 2023, organizations increased their hiring notably: the overall number of nonprofit employees increased by 15% and the overall number of contractors increased by 30%.
- In 2022, over 2,000 volunteers provided services with an estimated value of nearly $2m.
DEIJ work:
Organizations collectively made progress; however:
- The biggest barrier to progress was organizational capacity.
- The least progress was made in implementing periodic training of staff and board members.
Needs:
79% of organizations reported needing support to raise more funds.
“2022 was a much easier year than the ones previous, both in terms of Covid protocols and outbreaks and in terms of wildfire smoke, etc. We were grateful to have less to navigate through externally!”
