In Pandemic, Mental Health Charities Struggle With Fundraising Challenges and Increased Need

In New York, Wellbridge Addiction Treatment and Research, a new state-of-the-art facility, has been unable to fill its inpatient beds because of concerns related to the pandemic.

For nonprofit organizations raising money to combat mental illness and behavioral problems with treatment, research and other services like advocacy work, this month marks the end of a year like no other.

With frequent news reports and studies showing that the pandemic is causing rates of depression, stress, substance abuse, anxiety and other psychological problems to rise sharply, the health crisis has only underscored the urgency of work by nonprofits that address mental health disorders. But rising coronavirus cases and deaths and the related economic fallout have also made it harder for many mental health charities, particularly those that rely on special events, to secure donations.

At the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, a New York-based organization with chapters nationwide, donations made by participants in the charity’s “Out of Darkness” walks have declined by 35% this year, said Michael Lamma, senior vice president of development. “It became a difficult fundraising environment once the pandemic set in.” The walks, he added, have been a major revenue source, generating 60% of the organization’s contributions, partly because they also help people fight isolation, a common trait in people with suicidal impulses and those who take their own lives.

Fundraising events by the National Eating Disorders Association, another New York-based charity, have fared even more poorly this year, raising 60% less than in 2019, according to Christine Novak Micka, the association’s chief development officer. The organization’s 100 community walks have been shut down for safety reasons and replaced with 15 virtual events that have not done as well, drawing 5,000 people compared with 25,000 participants in the live events. The association also had to move its annual gala online in March, raising 30% less than its goal.

Charities working on mental health issues, just like other types of nonprofits, often find it challenging to move events online. On one hand, it’s easier not dealing with the logistics of a live event, said Kristen Lynch, a senior development officer at Boston’s International OCD Foundation, which helps people suffering from obsessive compulsive disorders and related issues like hoarding.

On the other hand, Lynch said, it was harder to figure out how to market the foundation’s virtual walk this year. It raised $187,000 compared to the $200,000 from the live event.

Pandemic deepens mental health problems

As behavioral health organizations struggle to adapt their fundraising to pandemic realities, multiple studies and the firsthand experiences of these organizations reveal a substantial pandemic-related rise in psychological distress and potentially fatal behaviors such as addiction, substance abuse and attempted suicide.

In a nationally representative survey of 1,468 adults in April, early in the coronavirus crisis, Johns Hopkins University found that nearly 14% reported symptoms of psychological distress, up from 4% in an identical survey conducted in 2018. (Such symptoms can only have increased since the survey was released.) In Virginia, Mental Health America offers free online assessments for both anxiety and depression. This year, it reported a 634% increase in people taking its anxiety assessment and an even greater jump of 873% among those measuring depression. And the National Eating Disorders Association reported a 40% increase to calls to its helpline this year, while online chat requests have exploded, growing by 90%.

Mental health needs outstrip contributions

As has been the case for many years with donations aimed at mental health, the amount of money being raised for this cause during the pandemic lags far behind the need, according to the 13 organizations reached for this article.

“All of us hear the news about an increase in depression and anxiety and exacerbation of symptoms due to COVID, but dollars aren’t following the conversation,” said Kathy Bernstein, vice president of development at the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance in Chicago.

The alliance has struggled this year to raise money to move 600 support groups operated by its 150 local affiliates to a virtual format, and about 80% of them are now online, said Bernstein. But the organization is still unable to serve hundreds of people who want to participate in other virtual support group meetings offered by the charity’s national headquarters.

Like other types of organizations, charities focused on mental health have found that foundations supporting them in the past have been more flexible this year about evaluations and other requirements—and, in a welcome change, more willing to provide general operating support. But it’s virtually impossible to get new grants from other foundations they haven’t worked with before. “You need a longstanding relationship to get in the door with foundations” this year, said Barbara Leshinsky, the top fundraiser at the Ad Council, which this year released a series of public service announcements to get young people to reach out to friends with mental health issues who may be at risk of suicide.

Overall, gifts from donor-advised funds have increased this year, according to the National Philanthropic Trust, which found that the number of grants made nationwide increased by 53% from March 1 to May 31 in 2020, while the total amount of money DAFs distributed grew by 64%. However, none of the mental health organizations interviewed for this article said they had noticed any increase or change in what they’ve received from donor-advised funds this year.

“We did not stop asking”

Some charities working on behavioral health have been able to attract new contributions this year. For example, the EMS FDNY Help Fund, a New York charity that represents emergency medical staff working on the frontlines of the pandemic, just got $95,000 from the Robin Hood Foundation, which fights poverty in New York City, to provide confidential counseling for thousands of emergency services workers stretched to the breaking point. New York emergency workers, three of whom committed suicide this year, are dealing with problems like post-traumatic stress and substance abuse on top of being among the lowest-paid medical staff in one of the world’s most expensive cities.

In Washington, D.C., the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, which advocates for civil rights, full inclusion and equality for people with mental health disabilities, recruited new corporate sponsors for a virtual awards event to honor people who offer extraordinary support to people with mental health disorders. At the same time, the center was able to keep Bazelon’s existing sponsors. That enabled the advocacy group to make the November online event free, which helped prompt a 275% increase in attendees who might one day become donors. The costs were about the same as previous in-person award galas: Instead of saving money on the cost of putting on a live event, Bazelon instead used that money to hire experts who advised the organization on making its online event successful.

A few charities working on behavioral health issues—particularly if they are not reliant on special events—have been able to raise more than they did before the pandemic hit. One such organization is the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, the addiction treatment organization headquartered in Center City, Minn. The nonprofit expects to raise $12.5 million this year, up 20% from contributions in 2019, said Moira McGinley, its lead fundraiser.

McGinley said that since January, the number of people making major gifts of $100,000 or more has doubled. Hazelden Betty Ford has been able to increase the number of lapsed donors who started giving again by 50% this year. Meanwhile, their average gift in 2020 has increased by 24%.

“We did not stop asking, and we have been tracking above our goal all year,” McGinley said. “And we have a significant amount of new donors.”

Coronavirus pushes patients away

Wellbridge Addiction Treatment and Research, a similar facility in Calverton, New York, that just opened last spring, has had a very different experience. Its financial challenges are reflective of the difficulties many mental health organizations nationwide are facing this year.

While officials are still figuring out how to raise money going forward, as the new substance abuse facility builds its reputation and track record, the coronavirus has already hurt revenues.

The pandemic, explained Andrew Drazan, chief executive and co-founder, offers an excuse for people with substance abuse problems to put off residential treatment. Even though the new facility has remained COVID-free since opening, many would-be patients—already struggling to give up alcohol or drugs—are leery about coming into a facility where they fear they may be exposed to the virus in group settings.

Instead of the 50 beds the organization envisioned filling at this point, Drazen said, it has hosted only eight to 15 since opening.