GREATER BERGEN AND BDO
Throughout our long-standing social partnership with BDO, they have supported Greater Bergen’s mission to reduce poverty in the communities we serve as part of their corporate social responsibility efforts. Through valuable financial contributions, BDO has helped fund scholarships for several low-income students to use towards their higher educational pursuits, as part of our Lois A. Braithwaite Scholarship initiative.
To learn more about BDO’s social impact, go to https://www.bdo.com/about/culture/social-impact.
SOCIAL PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
Partnerships like the one we have with BDO and other organizations are significant to the progression of Greater Bergen’s work for economic equity.
If you are a socially responsible corporation and would like to invest in much needed work towards radical economic and social change as part of your efforts: partner with us. Email Kiara Dunston at Kiara.Dunston@GreaterBergen.org to get started and learn more.
BDO Insights
On the Front Lines: Health and Human Services Organizations During COVID-19
Health and Human Services (HHS) organizations are often the boots on the ground direct care providers for some of our most vulnerable populations. These organizations provide essential services that are often the difference between life and death for those on the fringes of the traditional healthcare system.
For years these organizations have been experiencing increases in demand, while simultaneously combatting extreme inconsistency in government funding. These challenges were exacerbated by the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which put HHS organizations on the front lines of a global crisis and exponentially increased the need for their services.
To drill down into specific challenges impacting HHS organizations, we analyzed their responses to our annual benchmarking survey.
Here are our top findings:
HHS Organizations are Divided on Performance
Despite the challenges they faced, our 2020 survey found that nearly half of HHS organizations said they were able to maintain more than adequate funding and/or were experiencing growth. However, the survey was fielded just prior to the emergence of COVID-19 in the U.S., so it’s possible their optimism has dwindled. It’s also important to note that the majority of respondents identified as either surviving or struggling. For these HHS organizations, the events of 2020 and 2021 likely worsened their outlook even further.
Funding is Top Priority
HHS organizations are typically heavily dependent on governments and agencies for funding, but over the course of the past several years, funding cycles have been inconsistent at best, leaving many organizations struggling with prolonged financial uncertainty.
Organizations May be Falling into the Starvation Cycle
Many organizations prioritize spending on programs: Nearly all (95%) respondents reported that 70%-99% of their expenditures are program-related. This often comes with a cost: Many organizations aren’t properly funding their internal infrastructure—functions like human resources, information technology and other critical functions.
Long-term underfunding in these areas creates unrealistic expectations around the true costs of running these organizations. This phenomenon is known as the “starvation cycle.”
Technology Helps Fuel Care
Despite funding issues, HHS organizations are still working to manage the myriad of challenges they face. From transitioning to a partially remote workforce to enabling telemedicine visits for rural populations, technology can assist HHS organizations in performing their vital work. With limited resources, it’s important that organizations choose to invest in the right technology resources that can help manage demand and/or lower costs.
This blog post has been repurposed from a BDO HHS insight. For more findings from BDO’s annual benchmarking survey, download the full 2020 report. The 2021 report is forthcoming in November.