Financial Capacity During a Pandemic Crisis

Abstract

This chapter seeks to provide empirical evidence of the financial shocks that non-profits experienced during the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic lockdown period. The research included a literature review of the main up-to-date publications to understand non-profits’ financial vulnerabilities. The statistical analyses’ results facilitate a fuller understanding of the impacts that the abrupt loss of clients, volunteers, and employees due to the pandemic has had on non-profits’ finances. These results are discussed in light of the previous studies. Through computer-assisted text analysis, this study examined non-profit managers’ perceptions of the most significant challenges faced by these organisations in the pandemic’s initial phase. The findings reveal a dramatic situation characterised by a decrease in revenues and increase in expenses, in which non-profits regulated by Portugal’s social welfare private institutions statutes were the most strongly affected. The most salient challenges identified include technological preparedness, safety assurance, and physical distancing.