Cape Fear Collective
QENO
Landfall Foundation

State of Nonprofits Project ยท The Survey is Open

A Diagnostic Health Check
for Our Nonprofit Sector

Help build the first county-wide snapshot of nonprofit impact: the kind of evidence funders, leaders, and policymakers can act on. It only takes 10โ€“15 minutes.

Take the Survey Learn About the Project

What We Are Building

Cape Fear Collective and UNCW's QENO, with support from the Landfall Foundation, are pulling together data from tax forms, grant reports, and local feedback to build three tools:

The Report

A readable summary of sector-wide trends in finances, workforce, and capacity.

The Website

A public dashboard where you can filter data by focus area (Housing, Arts, etc.) and location.

The Dataset

A clean, anonymized benchmark to track sector health year over year.

Why This Matters

For Nonprofits

We're building this with you. You get the evidence you need to push for real change, backed by numbers you helped shape.

For Funders

Gain insight about how your grantees contribute to community-level outcomes. Learn about ways funding can be used to foster successful collaborations.

For Policymakers

See how the impact of nonprofits can inform public policy decisions. Reframe the conversation about public services from “charity” to “resilience.”

The Survey is Open.

Add Your Voice.

More than 90 sector participants shaped what we ask. Now we need the responses to bring the report to life. The more nonprofits respond, the more impactful the findings will be when they land in front of funders, leaders, and policymakers.

Who: Any staff member of a New Hanover County 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Multiple responses per organization are welcome.
How long: About 10โ€“15 minutes.
When it closes: Summer 2026.
What happens next: Responses are paired with IRS Form 990 data and listening sessions. The full report is expected in early 2027.
What it covers: Funding, workforce, capacity, and impact, to show the size, strain, and stakes of the county's nonprofit sector.
Take the Survey