UST has been on the front lines of supporting the nonprofit sector with effective workforce solutions that reduce costs and strengthen their missions for four decades. Throughout our journey, UST has built a reputation for providing innovative solutions and excellent customer service to our 2,200+ nonprofit members—working tirelessly to help nonprofits build strong, effective workforces that support their mission-critical initiatives while also saving valuable time and money.

One of the reasons UST has been so successful over the last 40 years is our deep understanding of the nonprofit sector and the unique challenges facing nonprofit organizations, from funding constraints to the need for specialized expertise. We continue to develop services that are tailored to meet the specific needs of nonprofits, whether it’s reducing unemployment costs, maintaining compliance with state and federal legislation, or tackling day-to-day HR needs.

As we celebrate our accomplishments over the last four decades, we also recognize that our success is due largely to the overwhelming support we receive from the nonprofit sector and consider ourselves extremely fortunate to work with people who share in our passion to strengthen nonprofit communities across the country.

A word from UST’s Executive Director, Donna Groh:

As UST celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, we are very proud of how many nonprofits we have helped over that span of time. To give a little perspective, UST has successfully:

• Managed over $1.4 billion in member assets
• Paid over $1.2 billion in unemployment claims
• Generated $132.5 million in investment returns to offset expenses
• Issued experience refunds of $138.5 million

But we are not resting on our laurels. Last year, we created a subsidiary LLC that will be developing programs to support nonprofit employers whether they are members of the Trust or choose to manage their unemployment benefits on their own or through the state tax system. The programs and services we will be focused on will be those that will help nonprofit employers attract, engage, and retain a vibrant workforce. We will have more details as specific programs develop so stay tuned.

Finally, as we look to the future, I will be stepping down as the Executive Director of UST and retiring in the Fall. We recently identified (and appointed) an impressive individual who will be coming on board this Summer for which I will provide an onboarding and consultative transition over the coming months.

To all of you who have been on this journey with us, we thank you and look forward to continued partnerships.

The Coronavirus pandemic has pushed the economy into a sudden and deep recession, impacting local businesses as well as a number of large corporations. But the effects of this pandemic on the nonprofit organization has been even more substantial and unfortunately, gone unnoticed. Many citizens rely on the services nonprofits provide such as, social services, medical care and spiritual community. Tens of thousands of nonprofits are likely to close without the support of some kind of rescue package to help keep their doors open. The nonprofit sector is the nation’s third-largest private employer, with 1.3 million nonprofits employing nearly 12.5 million people—about 10 percent of the total number of people working in the private sector.

According to the John Hopkins University 2020 Nonprofit Unemployment Report, more than 1.6 million nonprofit jobs have been lost between March and May of 2020. Private education nonprofits lost an estimated 323,201 jobs, while health care lost an estimated 574,530. As we know, nonprofits come in many shapes and sizes, ranging from large organizations, like city hospitals to small mom and pop thrift shops that help support local charities. No matter the size, nonprofits have been severely impacted by the pandemic in more ways than one. Many nonprofits are unable to perform normal day-to-days tasks due to the number of shutdowns and social distancing requirements. For food pantries and free clinics, the economic disruption has caused an increase in clients in need of these services. While many think of nonprofits as running predominately on donations, roughly half of their revenue come from billing for services, a third from government contracts and grants, and only about 9 percent from individual donations.

While some foundations and charitable-giving funds have seen an increase in their donations, other nonprofits have not had the same luck due to relying on revenue-generating activities and fundraising. Making it not only difficult to keep people on the payroll but also impacting long-term viability of their organization.

Many nonprofits were eligible for federal pandemic aid under the Paycheck Protection Program, which extended potentially forgivable loans to small employers to keep workers on the payroll. But qualifying for such aid can be difficult. Give Kids the World received $1.75 million, however, organizations like the Y.M.C.A. of Metropolitan Chicago were left out because they had more than 500 employees.

The nonprofit sector has more of an impact on the overall economy than many realize—offering crucial contributions to the country’s health, education, social service, and cultural activities. Nonprofits not only make up the country’s third largest workforce but also generate the third largest payroll of any national industry while making important contributions to the tax revenue of the country’s national, state, and local governments. The devastation of this pandemic has put many individuals out of work while closing the doors of many other beloved nonprofits—putting pressure on the vital services these organizations offer their communities.

UST is deeply saddened by the series of disturbing and tragic events that have taken place over the last few weeks related to the violence and injustice toward the Black community—including George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others. The resulting protests have created a long overdue flashpoint for awareness, action, and change. 

UST has supported the nonprofit community for over 35 years and we are proud of the impact that each of our members have in their communities. We know that communities that have nonprofit organizations established within experience less crime, such as murder, violent crime and crimes against property. Sharkey’s work also affirms some of the tenets of community policing: that neighborhoods are vital to policing themselves, and that they can address the complex roots of violence in ways that fall beyond traditional police work. Whether it is taking back the public parks, establishing mentorship programs for youth or implementing job training and employment opportunities, these all make a difference. But. That. Is. Not. Enough.

UST does not do this work directly but we support the organizations who do in their efforts, their ideals and their fight for more social justice and equity in communities across the nation. We are fortunate to have a strong board of Trustees who are all working in their own spaces for change. We think our current Board Chair, Karen Beavor, CEO of the Georgia Center for Nonprofits has expressed our sentiments exceptionally well. View her complete message here.

UST will continue to support the work our nonprofit members do to address these issues; we will listen, and will actively look for ways to be part of the change that is so desperately needed.

September resulted in positive job growth with employers adding an additional 134,000 jobs—resulting in an average monthly gain of 201,000 over the past 12 months. These jobs were added across a variety of sectors including professional and business services, health care, transportation and warehousing.

The unemployment rate dropped by 0.2 of a percentage point to 3.7% in September, and the number of unemployed persons decreased by 270,000 to 6.0 million. Over the year, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed persons declined by 0.5 percentage point and 795,000. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) showed slight change at 1.4 million in September and accounted for 22.9 percent of the unemployed. Over the year, the number of people employed part time for economic reasons increased by 263,000 to 4.6 million

Job gains occurred in professional and business services (54,000), healthcare (26,000), transportation and warehousing (8,000), construction (+23,000), manufacturing (+18,000), and mining (6,000) while leisure and hospitality showed little change (-17,000). Prior to September, employment had shown an upward trend, however Hurricane Florence might have had an impact on the number of jobs for this industry. Employment in other major industries, including wholesale trade, retail trade information, financial activities and government, showed little to no change over the month.

In September, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls increased by 8 cents to $27.24. Over the course of the year, average hourly earnings had risen by 73 cents or 2.8 percent.

With the impact of Hurricane Florence affecting parts of the East Coast during the reference periods in September for the establishment and household surveys, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will be releasing the state estimates of employment and unemployment on October 19, 2018 at 10:00am (EDT).  

U.S. employers added 223,000 nonfarm payroll jobs in May, compared with an average monthly gain of 191,000 over the prior 12 months. With the unemployment rate down to 3.8 percent—an eighteen year record low—the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported employment has continued to trend upward in multiple industries, including retail trade, health care and construction.

May marked the 92nd straight month of job growth in the U.S., with the number of unemployed persons declining to 6.1 million. Since the beginning of the year, unemployment rate has gone down by 0.5 percent, and the number of unemployed persons decreased by 772,000. 

The U.S. economy added 31,000 jobs in retail trade, with an increase occurring in general merchandise stores, building materials and garden supplies. Employment in health care increased by 29,000 and construction rose by 25,000 with a continual growth of 286,000 positions over the past 12 months. Both professional and technical services have shown a gain of 23,000 jobs and has increased by 206,000 over the year. Manufacturing employment has continued to grow during the month of May with 18,000 jobs—durable goods required due to an addition of 6,000 jobs in machinery. Employment in other major industries, such as wholesale trade, information, financial activities, leisure and hospitality and government, showed little to no change over the course of the month.

In May, average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 8 cents to $26.92. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 2.7 percent and the average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 7 cents to $22.59 in May.

With job openings being at a two-decade high, this is good news for the many young people who have recently graduated. However, there are still many working-age people on the sidelines of the job market. Though more people have joined the workforce in the first quarter of 2018 than in the first quarter of 2017, the share of prime-age workers who are employed still hasn’t returned to where it was prior to the recession.