Resilience of Nonprofits Serving or Led by People of Color During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aims to understand whether POC-serving or POC-led nonprofits (nonprofits serving or led by people of color) had disparate experiences during the pandemic. Data (The data collected for this study are not publicly available due to ethical and legal reasons) from the national COVID-19 Community Impact Survey are used to examine organizations’ perceived disruptions relative to the racial and ethnic characteristics in organizational leadership and communities served. We find that POC-serving and POC-led nonprofits were less likely to see an increase in government funds. In addition, POC-serving nonprofits were more likely to experience significant disruptions in service and an increase in demand. Nevertheless, they were less likely to report a decrease in ability to serve and staffing. Our findings reveal that inequities in funding exist in the nonprofit world. Yet, POC-serving or POC-led nonprofits were resilient and continued to meet the challenges arising from the pandemic.