Many nonprofits vulnerable to uncertainty due to low operating reserves

New research from accounting firm BDO shows that the nation's nonprofits are still struggling with liquidity issues that could hamper their ability to weather a downturn in donations and grants. The firm's recent study Nonprofit Standards found that nonprofits have liquid unrestricted net assets amounting to an average of 8.7 months of operating reserves. However, some 40 percent maintain between one month and less than six months of reserves, and almost a quarter of health and human services organizations surveyed for the report don't maintain any operating reserves at all.