Batting For A New Team

If things look bad for nonprofits right now, they're looking a helluva lot funkier for newspapers. 501c3s will bounce back when the economy recovers, as will construction and real estate and dinners out.

But what kind of bounce-back will the New York Times get when unemployment falls back to 6 percent?

The answer is none. Newspapers have been losing money for years as ad dollars have shifted over to the internet. It's gotten so bad that the New York Times has considered selling its share of the Red Sox. Now that's desperate.

So it's no surprise that journalists are looking at switching teams as a way to make their demise a little less imminent.

A group of former Seattle Post-Intelligencer journalists today launched InvestigateWest, a nonprofit organization they hope will deliver in-depth stories to the region and find a way to save what is becoming an endangered craft.

These west-coast writers will be teaming up with a still-forming national nonprofit called the Investigative News Network. Together, they're betting that their work breaking stories is as fundable as campaigns to save whales.

Journalists aren't nearly as cute, but they're also risking extinction. Here's hoping their betting pays off.

Annals of the Obvious

News flash! The recession is still kicking nonprofits' asses. 

The percentage of nonprofits that have resorted to layoffs, broad-based programmatic reductions, and reserve draw-downs has increased measurably.

Really, this is what counts as news? Where ya been, buddy? For months, analysts have been saying that the crappy economy would have a slow ripple effect on nonprofits. Even though for-profits were suffering a year ago, grants to nonprofits had already been funded. (Nothing's worse for corporate image than retracting a grant...) It was the next funding cycle -- right now -- where 501c3s would take a hit. 

And it's happened. The Bridgespan study says that, as a result,  6 out of 10 nonprofits now have contingency plans. In other words, the glass is 60% full with what-ifs for the next great recession. If only we could add some vitamins to that water...