In 2021, average unrestricted revenue exceeded expenses by 49% (roughly $626,000), up from 10% in 2019, as pandemic relief funding boosted revenue and organizations cut costs. This gap has generally narrowed since then, reaching 13% in preliminary 2025 results.
Since 2022, average expenses remained fairly consistent, fluctuating within about 3% in real terms over the last three years. Revenue, meanwhile, has steadily declined.
Preliminary 2025 data indicate relative stabilization, with average unrestricted revenue falling just 3% from 2024 and average expenses holding flat.
*Unrestricted revenue data is only available for a subset of 7,777 organizations within the sample.
Large organizations with budgets above $1 million experienced by far the most volatility throughout the period analyzed, with surges of government relief resulting in a revenue spike 39% above 2019 levels in 2021, then falling sharply the following year, before climbing back to finish slightly above pre-pandemic levels according to preliminary 2025 data.
Small organizations with budgets below $250,000 saw little of that volatility, but also none of the recovery. After holding roughly flat through 2021, revenue for this group has declined every year since, landing 21% below 2019 levels in 2025.
Midsized organizations with budgets between $250,000 and $1 million fall in between—dipping and partially recovering in the pandemic years before drifting down to 21% below 2019 levels, though early 2025 data show a modest uptick.
Values are indexed to 2019 (2019=100) to allow comparison across organizations of different budget sizes.
After dipping to 24% in 2021—likely reflecting the same pandemic relief funding that boosted revenue that year—the share of organizations operating at a deficit climbed to 41% in 2023 and 2024, before falling back to 34% in preliminary 2025 data, nearly matching the 35% share seen in 2019.
That pattern holds across organizations of every size group. Even the smallest organizations, despite facing the sector's steepest revenue declines, reported deficits in 2025 at a slightly lower rate than in 2019.
Average working capital peaked in 2021, covering 16 months of operating expenses—double the 8 months held in 2019—as organizations accrued amid pandemic-era uncertainty and relief funding, echoing the same spike seen in revenue and drop in deficit rates that year. Much of that growth has receded in years since, though the decline slowed considerably after 2022. Overall, months of working capital held roughly flat in 2023 and 2024 before dipping again in preliminary 2025 data, landing at 10 months, still above the 2019 8-month baseline.