Do or Die: Nonprofits adjust to the new normal posed by Covid-19

By: Simon Campbell, Contributing Writer
San Francisco Business Times

HIrsch CEO and Founder, Susan Hirsch, shares her insights on effective giving practices and what philanthropists should be mindful of with the unprecedented challenges facing the nonprofit sector.

Hirsch & Associates LLC is a philanthropic advisory group that helps donors and nonprofits work together. They are urging clients to be mindful of the unprecedented challenges facing the nonprofit sector.

Organizations would normally produce detailed spending plans and reports when receiving grants and big donations. The reality is different now, said CEO Susan Mayer Hirsch.

Hirsch & Associates is advising clients to listen to nonprofit leaders and think outside the box of established philanthropic patterns. “This is a moment that requires jumping in again with that trust in the relationship and also the belief that it’s going to take some of that kind of investment to move things along,” Hirsch said.

Hirsch & Associates has suggested donors consider offering multi-year grants and making donations as flexible as possible, not tying them to a specific program or policy. This would allow organizations to plan with some degree of confidence about the immediate future and enable “better outcomes for the populations they’re trying to serve,” Hirsch said.

With the nonprofit sector fighting desperately to help people navigate the ravages of Covid-19, the advice for anyone considering a donation is to make it sooner rather than later.

“What we recommended to people was if they were thinking about making a gift or grant between now and the end of the year, make it,” Hirsch said.

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