How Are We Doing? Northwest Ohio Nonprofit Landscape

Northwest Ohio nonprofit landscape

Written by DeVon J. Overton II, PhD Candidate

DeVon J. Overton II is the Chief Data Officer at United Way of Greater Toledo, with over 10 years of experience in data analysis, change management, and results-based strategies. Her mission is to drive community impact through data-driven decision-making.

October 16, 2024

How Are We Doing?

Nonprofits are facing difficulties in Northwest Ohio. In 2018, The Center for Nonprofit Resources (C4NPR) released a report that highlighted important details about nonprofits in Northwest Ohio, focusing on Lucas, Wood, and Fulton Counties.

Infographic from the 2018 C4NPR report

Where Did We Start?

The Center found that in 2017 there were over 4,800 nonprofit organizations, and almost 3,500 were charities. If we assigned every person in the Toledo area to a nonprofit, there would be about 155 people per organization. Over half of these charities were formed after the year 2000, and most of them were operating on less than $50,000 per year.

Major Challenges

After the COVID pandemic, many nonprofits in the area reported struggles. Some asked for help closing their organizations, others saw an increase in people asking for help, and some received extra financial support through programs like ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) and PPP (Paycheck Protection Program). However, even with the extra help, some organizations found it hard to keep up with the growing number of people needing services.

United Way of Greater Toledo’s Approach

In 2019, we launched the Community Analytics and Research Center at United Way of Greater Toledo. We found that there was a need for open access to data, which would help us understand how nonprofits are doing. Wendy Pestrue, CEO of United Way of Greater Toledo, saw United Way as a trusted organization that helps advise on giving. She envisioned a system where we work together to decide how to spend our resources wisely, using data to guide our decisions.

Elected officials, government agencies, businesses, donors, community members, and nonprofit partners agree: to know where we’re going, we need to understand where we’ve been. In order to have a real impact and fund programs effectively, we need to know what the community needs and what resources are available. United Way built on the Center’s research and created an interactive dashboard to help people see the bigger picture of the local nonprofit sector. This tool, along with community scorecards, helps us understand how we can work together to improve lives.

Population Results

Since 20161 nonprofits in the area have generated over $33 billion in revenue2, with more than half of that money coming from organizations focused on health. United Way invested $34 million across three counties, with $8 million of that going to health programs. Even with these large investments, we are seeing fewer adults in good health. Education nonprofits received the least funding, and school readiness has continued to decline. Housing nonprofits saw revenue similar to education nonprofits, and there has been an increase in first-time homelessness in the area. While some nonprofits help reduce household expenses, the rising cost of living has increased the number of ALICE (Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed) households.


[1] 2016 to 2021 as IRS data has become available.

[2] https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-annual-extract-of-tax-exempt-organization-financial-data
https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/exempt-organizations-business-master-file-extract-eo-bmf
https://nccs.urban.org/nccs/datasets/bmf/

 

Education Scorecard
Financial Stability Scorecard
Health Scorecard
Housing Scorecard
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Learn More About the Data Scorecards! Education | Financial Stability | Health | Housing

Some Signs of Hope

Before the pandemic, most students in Lucas County and Toledo Public Schools were graduating high school on time. While graduation rates haven’t fully returned to pre-pandemic levels, there is an upward trend. People are also successfully moving from shelters into permanent housing, and fewer households are living in poverty.

How Can I Use This data?

The data shared here only gives a small glimpse of what we need to consider to help our community. This information helps us understand where we are and how much we are doing. It can also answer questions like:

  • How much money are local nonprofits receiving?
  • How have nonprofit contributions and revenue changed over time?
  • What types of services do nonprofits with the most/ least revenue, provide?
  • How many nonprofits are there?

We also combine financial data with impact data to ask more complex questions, like:

  • How well are nonprofits using the resources available to address key problems?
  • How much money is needed to address these problems?
  • Who are the key partners in turning the curve?
  • Have education, health, income, or housing conditions improved?

While the data on our dashboards and scorecards show a broad picture of where we stand, there are many factors to consider when creating successful programs. Not every financial data point directly shows how much impact a program is having, and we also need to think about racial and other inequalities when serving vulnerable populations. We’ll cover these topics in future posts.

What Do We Do to Improve?

Nonprofits alone can’t solve all the challenges our community faces. Government and businesses also play a big part in improving people’s lives. With shrinking resources and growing problems, working together is the most logical path forward. Since 2018, United Way of Greater Toledo has been a leader in using data and collaboration to guide its efforts by implementing Results-based Accountability and Collective Impact. We work with partners in Lucas, Ottawa, and Wood counties to share resources and support each other.

By using data, we can better understand where we’ve been, where we’re headed if nothing changes, and what we need to do to make things better. Improving lives is possible if we all work together and align our resources toward the goals we are trying to achieve.


Our 2025 Scorecards will be released soon! You can explore Population Results and Performance Results (how and what services are provided by UWGT partners) with detailed data showing differences based on race, gender, and age.

Stay tuned to for more valuable information that YOU can use to better serve our community! 

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