Van De Ven 1

Olivia Van De Ven

ENC 1102
10 March 2021

Research Dossier: COVID-19 Impacts US Non-Profits

Dossier Introduction
The topic I chose to research for my research project this semester is the impact of COVID-19 on
United States Nonprofit organizations. The biggest reason why I chose this topic is because of
my passion of simply, helping people. To correlate this idea into my career field, my major is
Global and International Studies in hopes of working as a Humanitarian at a nonprofit
organization.
Growing up, I watched my friends and classmates have such a sure idea of what they want to do
with their lives. In the fourth grade, on our posters about us the “What I Want to Be When I
Grow Up?” section on all my friends was filled out, while mine was left with an overzealous
question mark. In high school, with the SATs daunting at every turn, I was left extremely
overwhelmed because I felt as though I had no idea what I was doing with my life. I held
extremely high grades throughout all of school, I was very very involved, and I had very
ambitious goals for myself. Yet, the question “What I Want to Be When I Grow Up?” became an
overwhelming shadow that always followed me. When I told my mom how I was feeling, post-
SAT, we sat down and looked through hundreds of degrees with no end in sight. My mom (who
knows me better than anyone in the whole world) asked me, point-blank, “what do you wanna do
when you grow up?” This question had haunted me for years and to be quite honest I said, “ well
if i knew what I wanted, we wouldn't be here, now would we?” My mother said, “I didn’t ask
what job you wanted, I asked what you wanted to do.” This changed my entire perspective of
growing up, I told her, “I want to travel, oh and help people.”A few days later, she offered the
major “Global and International studies” and at that moment, the question mark disappeared.
This was the moment I realized the opportunity I have to make an influence.

This track led me to how I can make an influence through nonprofit organizations. For this
research project, I have decided to explore the impact of COVID-19 on nonprofit organizations.
The focus of the exploration will be on the three most influential factors of nonprofit
organizations that are experiencing the greatest stress as a result of COVID-19. These three
perspectives include financial, awareness, and effectivity, meaning, COVID-19 influenced
nonprofits negatively through many aspects of financial hardships, causing an inability to spread
awareness for said nonprofit, and lastly the ability in which the nonprofits are able to aid those in
need.
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At this point in my research process, I have completed my Digital Paper Trail and the Research
Proposal and am thoroughly gathering facts and figures from my thirty sources. I am also
working to make my blog a source to help me throughout the research process. My next step is to
finish this Research Dossier and to continue gathering research. The aspect in which I have
struggled the most with is to properly organize the research I have collected. I intend to find a
better strategy for research gathering and analysis.

For these three aspects - financial, awareness, and effectiveness - I have compiled sources in my
annotated bibliography. Aaestad (2020) and Amandolare (2020) provide detailed resources to
demonstrate how Nonprofits are struggling financially. Barnhart (2020) and Durflinger (2020)
demonstrate how nonprofits are struggling to demonstrate awareness of the organization because
of COVID-19. Alexander (2020) and Halstead (2020) demonstrate the ways in which nonprofits
are struggling to provide the service of the organization.

Research Proposal
Subject: Research Proposal: COVID-19 Impacts US Non-Profits
Topic description:
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My research topic will be addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on non-profit
organizations in the United States.
Documentation Style:
For this research project, the style guide I will be using is the Chicago Style. My major, Global
& International Studies, falls under the “Political Science” route and in Political Science, the
most used style guide is the “Chicago Style.” I believe using the style guide would provide
practice for upcoming projects and “real-life” applications.
https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html
https://pitt.libguides.com/citationhelp/chicago
https://middlebury.libguides.com/psci/cite
Purpose:
Here at UCF I am majoring in Global & International Studies and double minoring in Italian and
Leadership. As a global studies major, the career goal I currently am working towards is a
Humanitarian, this would include work at nonprofit organizations. This research project provides
me an opportunity to look at the state of several non-profit organizations in the US and create a
better understanding of them. Especially in a time of crisis as we are and have been for the last
year, I think this is a perfect opportunity to see how nonprofits are beneficial and to watch how
they survive through highs and lows.
Intended audience:
In this ENC1102 class, there is a wide range of majors, minors, career goals, hobbies, and
personalities. The COVID-19 pandemic has influenced everyone's lives one way or another,
whether that means not getting to have their graduation or not getting to have the second half of
their college year, in this class, everyone has been affected in ways we may never know. For
instance, we may never know the struggles to make ends meet, if anyone has lost someone close
to them from COVID-19, or if someone is struggling with mental or physical health. However,
the one thing that we do know is that we are ALL struggling. Non-profit organizations are often
the groups that help the people who struggle whether that is to put meals on the table or to put a
roof over people's heads. These are difficult jobs without help from a global pandemic. For the
people who aren't going into political science or humanities majors, I hope that in this TED talk/
paper I create an understanding of the struggles non-profit organizations have endured in this
past year.
Research Question / Preliminary Thesis / Argument:
“How has COVID-19 impacted finiancially, awareness, and effectiveness of nonprofit
organizations in the United States?”
Types of research areas:
Due to the current state of the United States, I will not be doing field research in the traditional
sense. However, I have considered reaching out to people to interview via Zoom. If I have the
opportunity, I will try to reach out to people in Non-profit organizations for interviews to ask
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how covid has influenced the organization specifically. If I had the opportunity, I would try to
reach out to The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and on-campus nonprofits clubs or
organizations. I also intend to use different forms of internet research. This includes but is not
limited to: articles, surveys, data, non-profit websites, and non-profit social media. In terms of
scholarly research, I intend to find articles through the internet and/or the library. Therefore, I
intend on using all three forms.

Annotated Bibliography:

Aanestad, Kari, and Jon Pratt. “Minnesota Nonprofit Economy Report.” Saint Paul: Minnesota
Council of Nonprofits, May 2020.

Content: This source details the Minnesota Nonprofit Economy Report, this includes the
“executive summary.” This source provides the charts and figures of “pre-pandemic” nonprofit
economy and follows with a comparison of the same charts and figures during COVID-19. This
source provides direct observation of my research topic.

Author: The two Authors of this source are Kari Aanestad and Jon Pratt. Kari Aanestad is the
director of advancement at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and Jon Pratt is the Executive
Director at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits.

BEAM: There seems to be no bias in this source due to its statistical nature and the source
comes directly from rht Minnesota Council of Nonprofits.

Alexander, Lucy. “Nonprofits Are Struggling Because of Covid. Here Are 17 That Could Use
Your Help.” Robb Report. Robb Report, December 26, 2020.
https://robbreport.com/lifestyle/news/17-essential-non-profits-struggling-during-pandemic-
1234586907/.

Content: This online source is unique in the fact that it provides a list of 17 struggling nonprofit
organizations. In this list, facts that detail specific organizations and the hardships they are
struggling with. While many nonprofits are struggling financially, this source displays how each
nonprofit organization is being individually affected. This source is essential to my research
project due to the extensive organizations and the data associated with them.
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Author: Lucy Alexander has spent six years reporting for The Wall Street Journal, The Times of
London, The Financial Times and BBC, these are some of the most notable sources for years.

BEAM: This source discusses various perspectives on the impact of COVID-19 for nonprofit
organizations. This is the only source that covers several different nonprofit organizations
specifically in depth.

Amandolare, Sarah, Jonathan Bowles, Laird Gallagher, and Erin Garrett. Report. Center for an
Urban Future, 2020. Accessed February 10, 2021. doi:10.2307/resrep25435.

Content: This source provides extensive data providing support for nonprofit organizations
struggling financially. In this article, there is extensive data detailing specific organizations and
how they are struggling financially. To expand, this source also provides another aspect of
financial issues, this includes a “new wave” of costs that were added due to COVID-19.

Author: While there are several authors included in this work, the titled author is Sarah
Amandolare. Sarah Amandolare is a science and travel reporter who worked as a Senior Writer
at Dulcinea Media.

BEAM: This source provides no bias attached, the survey data stands alone to display the
struggles. This source will be a great resource to establish the financial aspect of my argument.

(8) Barnhart , Erica Mills. “Nonprofits Are Struggling to Do More with Less Money, but Donors
and Volunteers Can Help: 5 Questions Answered.” The Conversation, December 23, 2020.
https://theconversation.com/nonprofits-are-struggling-to-do-more-with-less-money-but-donors-
and-volunteers-can-help-5-questions-answered-149899.

Content: This source is uniquely broken down into five questions related to how nonprofits are
struggling. While this source is limited when it comes to statistics and data, it provides sources to
other surveys and sources. I intend to find ideas from this source to use in describing funding and
effectiveness.

Author: Erica Mills Barnhart is an Associate Teaching Professor and Director of the Nancy Bell
Evans Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the University of Washington.
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BEAM: This article is not biased in any way. Erica Mills Barnhart demonstrates a position in
which the article is to inform and to push open conversation.

Dubb, Steve, Steve Dubb, Martin Levine, Martin Levine, Nicole Zerillo, Nicole Zerillo, Sofia
Jarrin, Sofia Jarrin, Carrie Collins-Fadell, and Carrie Collins-Fadell. “Nonprofits Struggle to
Stay Alive amid Covid-19,” July 9, 2020. https://nonprofitquarterly.org/nonprofits-struggle-to-
stay-alive-amid-covid-19/.

Content: While this article does not provide statistical support, it does provide several links to
surveys and direct exposure for the research process. I will use Levine’s ideas of economic losses
in the ‘nonprofit community’ to push my ideas forward.

Author: Martin Levine is a principal at Levine Partners LLP, “a consulting group focusing on an
organizational change and improvement …”

BEAM: This source does not provide bias, this will be a great source for all three aspect of my
research due to its wide range of discussion.

Durflinger, Austin T. “Local Impacts of a Global Crisis: How Washington State Nonprofits Are
Responding to COVID-19.” Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, November 2, 2020.
https://evans.uw.edu/local-impacts-of-a-global-crisis-how-washington-state-nonprofits-are-
responding-to-covid-19/.

Content: This source provides an in depth, multistep pamphlet that details several aspects of
nonprofit downfalls in Washington state. This source provides another state view (specifically)
on how COVID-19 has influenced nonprofits. In this source, there are several groups of articles,
diagrams, surveys, charts, and data that could support all three aspects of my research.

Author: Erica Mills Barnhart is also an author of this source, as stated a few articles ago.

BEAM: This source contains no bias due to where the source came from, this is a research
project that demonstrates the facts and figures from Washington State’s nonprofit organizations.

Halstead, Richard. “Coronavirus Rules Threaten Viability of Marin Child Care Sites.” Marin
Independent Journal. Marin Independent Journal, July 2, 2020.
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https://www.marinij.com/2020/06/20/coronavirus-rules-threaten-viability-of-marin-child-care-
sites/.

Content: This source provides a first hand look of the influences of COVID-19 on a county in
California. This source provides a unique research component to my research, detailing child
care facilities and their struggles during COVID-19.

Author: Richard Halstead is not the most popular news reporter that covers “Marin County
News, politics, healthcare, social services …”

BEAM: This article is unbiased and reports facts that will provide a unique aspect of the effects
on smaller non-profit organizations to my research project.

Harold, Jacob, Executive Vice President, See bio About Jacob Harold As president & CEO of
GuideStar, About Jacob Harold As president & CEO of GuideStar, and Name *. “How Many
Nonprofits Will Shut Their Doors?” Candid Blog, July 22, 2020.
https://blog.candid.org/post/how-many-nonprofits-will-shut-their-doors/.

Content: Candid, this blog site, created a survey to analyze thousands of non profit
organizations and the lost revenue over the past year. This source also displayed the prediction,
based on this survey, in which nonprofits will start to close their doors.

Author: Jacob Harold is the Executive Vice President of Candid and leads analysis of the social
sector. He is also the CEO of the company GuideStar.

BEAM: This source provides statistical support demonstrating the downfall of nonprofit
organizations amongst the world-wide pandemic. This source does not demonstrate a bias.

Independent Sector. “The Impact of COVID-19 on Large and Mid-Sized Nonprofits.”

Independent Sector, June 15, 2020. https://independentsector.org/resource/covid19-survey/.

Content: This survey will supply data on the impact of COVID-19 on Large and Mid-Sized
Nonprofit organizations. The survey provides specific survey statistics providing the clear impact
of COVID-19 on nonprofit organization. The text attached to the survey also provides a clear
explanation of what the survey response implies and how it has been implemented.
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Author: While there is not an author attached to this specific online article, the article was
written by a website titled “Independent Sector.” After researching the website, the Independent
sector is a National Membership organization that “brings together a diverse community of
changemakers at nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs working to strengthen
civil society and ensure all people in the United States thrive.”

BEAM: Therefore, this source is not biased and provides plenty of factual data and evidence that
will benefit my research on Nonprofit organizations in the financial aspect.

Merrifield, Kristen. “Arizona's COVID-19 Nonprofit Pulse Poll.” Unknown: Alliance, June 11,
2020.

Content: This source is a pamphlet of information, tables, graphs, and statistics of the impact of
COVID-19 on the state of Arizona. Included in this pamphlet, there are details regarding layoffs,
supplier mishaps, cancelations of programs, lost volunteer support and more as a direct result of
COVID-19.

Author: While Kristen Merrifield is a speaker and mentor in the Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits,
she is also the CEO.

BEAM: There is no bias in this source. This source provides a new set of data as support for my
research project. I will use this source not only to support the financial hardships, but also the
effectiveness as well.

Newhouse, Chelsea. “The 2020 Nonprofit Employment Report: The 3rd Largest Employer Faces
the COVID-19 Crisis.” About the Center, June 16, 2020. http://ccss.jhu.edu/2020-nonprofit-
employment-report/.

Content: This source is the official “2020 Nonprofit Employment Report.” This article details
the influence COVID-19 has had not only on the people nonprofits help, but also the impact on
the nonprofit employees.

Author: Chelsea Newhouse is a Manager and Economic Data Project & Communications
Associate at John Hopkins.
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BEAM: This source provides a new aspect on the research project, because every other source I
have found is in regards to how COVID-19 affects the organization (and while this does) this
source focuses on the employment struggles as well.

Unknown.“ArtsFund.org.” ArtsFund RSS. Accessed March 10, 2021.

https://www.artsfund.org/covid-19-arts-sector-impacts/.

Content: This survey done by the Artsfund was done to understand how employment impacts,
digital programming, and reopening were affected. This source shows how nonprofits are
adapting to this new era, and the difficulties attached to it.

Author: While there is not one author specifically associated with this source, the website that
conducted the survey, Artsfund, their mission statement is, “ArtsFund strengthens the
community by supporting the arts through leadership, advocacy, and grant making.”

BEAM: This source demonstrates how nonprofits are attempting to move forward beyond the
past year of hardship, however, this survey demonstrates the struggles that are attached. This will
be used not only in my financial aspect but also awareness and effectiveness.