The economic crisis is unraveling the social safety net faster than most of us realize. Government and nonprofits need to purposefully work together to reinforce the social safety net held by health-care, human services and many other nonprofits. As Tim Delaney, CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits said, "It is both unrealistic and unsafe to those depending on services to simply assume that nonprofits will somehow be able to continue to deliver more services that cost more with declining revenues. The math just doesn't work."

Objective information on challenges facing nonprofits is in National Council of Nonprofits' Special Report No. 8 (councilofnonprofits.org).

Demand for nonprofits' services nearly doubled since November 2008. More than half of those surveyed have escalating operating costs and decreasing revenue. More than a third cut operations by layoffs, program cuts and vital service reductions.

Small nonprofits are impacted most. Finances of nonprofits with annual revenue under $1million worsened in the past six months: 41 percent reported cuts exceeding 20 percent of their funding. Revenue loss among 63 percent of nonprofits with revenue under $500,000 was most severe. In New Hampshire, 78 percent of nonprofits report revenue of less than $100,000 and 15.7 percent between $100,000 and $1 million.

Nonprofits are not able to just go out and deliver services as usual.

CLAUDIA DAMON

Concord

(The writer is director of advocacy for the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits.)