The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
Breast Cancer Prevention Partner’s financial health and stability were deeply impacted by the pandemic. Forced to cancel or drastically modify key annual fundraising events and absorb overall declines in individual, foundation, and corporate giving, we measured $1 million in lost revenue. However, through the loyalty of longtime BCPP supporters and our ability to pivot through new environments, we were able to overcome many of our obstacles and make huge strides towards preventing breast cancer.
We adjusted our external events to the new environment. We created virtual versions of two of our signature, outdoor, in-person fundraising events: Peak Hike for Prevention and New England Peaks for Prevention. We also developed brand new virtual platforms to deliver programmatic and fundraising activities: a new “Changemakers’ Chat” virtual discussion series, a virtual congressional briefing, an online film screening of LUNAFEST, educational webinars to launch Paths to Prevention, and so on.
In foundations, we applied, advocated for, and received emergency grants from several longtime funders and a $300k loan from the Small Business Administration PPP program, bringing our total 2020 income to $2.2 million.
We also performed a mid-year reevaluation of our budget and cut costs where possible (i.e., subscriptions, services, etc.).
In addition, our staff adapted quickly to remote working, full utilizing our Teams and Zoom software to bring our internal capacity together and connect with outside networks.