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Study: Post-Recession, Nonprofits Expect Growing Donations

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A new study shows Milwaukee nonprofits are beginning to thrive once again.

It was described as a perfect storm – the interaction between the Great Recession and nonprofit organizations. Giving was down to nonprofits at exactly the time when many of their services were needed the most.

The economic recovery has been slow in coming, but new research shows that Milwaukee area nonprofits are in a much stronger position than they were just a couple years ago.

The research was undertaken by the newspaper Biz Times, in collaboration with a journalism class at UW-Milwaukee.

Executive editor Steve Jagler says nonprofits' success in weathering the recession may say something about the for-profit sector.

"With this recession recovery, we’ve seen a lot of stagnation in terms of job growth," he says. "But I think seeing the growth that’s happened in the nonprofit industry really gives a little bit more indication  of how businesses are doing.  Because a lot of nonprofits get their biggest contributions from businesses."

Journalism students James Gutierrez and Samantha Nash participated in the research. They received survey responses from 79 nonprofit executives, and found that many nonprofits expect to receive more donations this year than in 2012.