Days after United Way of Spokane County suddenly announced it would wind down its operations after more than a century of operations, the president and CEO of United Way of Benton & Franklin Counties said it is not going anywhere.

LoAnn Ayers said the Tri-Cities chapter, which has operated since 1958, has evolved to meet the community’s needs – and it will continue to do so.

It’s done so by diversifying its revenue streams to include federal and state grants and contracts, and narrowing its focus to support programs and other nonprofits that benefit children from birth through middle school.

That’s how the Tri-Cities chapter is able to hire up to six school-based mentors as part of a new pilot of its long-standing Attendance Matters program for the coming school year. It’s currently reviewing grant applications from smaller organizations and efforts that align with its mission to lift up kids.

“Our United Way is strong,” Ayers said. “We have amazing staff, smart directors and a big, bold mission.”

But the demise of the Spokane County chapter isn’t a lone ripple in the philanthropic pool. Philanthropy officials locally and across the nation say there is a sea change in the conditions facing nonprofits, from the growing needs within communities to disruptive economic and political climates threatening their missions.

State of giving

Nationally, philanthropy has largely done well the last few years. Giving USA’s annual report, published this summer, showed that charitable giving hit $592 million in 2024, up 6.3% compared to 2023. It was the first time in three years that total giving outpaced inflation.

Similarly, the majority of nonprofit leaders reported that their revenues from foundations or individual giving met or exceeded expectations, according to another report from The Center for Effective Philanthropy.

The Tri-Cities United Way chapter has not yet published its 2024 financial reports, but it has maintained healthy finances in recent years. Its revenues have outpaced its expenditures at least as far back as 2021, according to its tax records and annual reports.

Another Tri-Cities nonprofit, 3 Rivers Community Foundation, or 3RCF, saw its net assets exceed $11 million in 2024, up from $6 million in 2019.

“We grew the dollars that were distributed in grants, over $330,000 in 2024. The largest amount in the history of 3RCF with the largest number of applications reviewed,” wrote foundation board chair Tara Wiswall in the foundation’s 2024 annual report. “We grew our scholarship offerings and the number of agency funds we manage.”

And like the local chapter of the United Way, 3RCF recently opened its 2025 annual grant cycle for local nonprofits to seek funding for their work in the community. Last year the foundation awarded grants to 67 nonprofits and 3RCF CEO Abbey Cameron said they will award as much, if not more, in grant funding this year.

Other smaller nonprofits have struggled locally during that same time. Therapeutic Riding of the Tri-Cities, or TROT, faced the possibility of shutting down until it received a surge of support from donors following a plea from its leaders.

Another horse riding therapy nonprofit, Strides Therapeutic Horsemanship Center in Pasco, shut down this summer after years of financial hardship.

“We are hearing that some of our nonprofits are definitely having to adapt and carefully plan to make it through these next few years,” Cameron told the Journal.

Uncertainty ahead

Many nonprofit leaders are seeing fortunes shift in 2025, reporting recent changes in government funding, particularly from the federal level, affecting their future work.

“The lack of communication from government funders has created a high level of stress and additional work in assessing risk, contingency planning and internal communications,” one nonprofit leader said in the report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy.

United Way of Benton & Franklin Counties is no different. Attendance Matters will be scaled back from the original nine middle schools the program served until mid-spring last school year. That’s when President Donald Trump’s administration eliminated the AmeriCorps-funded staff who previously worked as mentors. The new mentors will be directly employed by United Way, with some who previously worked in the role through AmeriCorps.

It also didn’t look like the local chapter would be able to distribute books from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to 5,000 Tri-City children after the state cut its share of the funding due to a budget shortfall. The Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction has since stepped up to cover that cost for at least this school year.

Ayers said using resources such as AmeriCorps staff and state funds for projects was part of a deliberate effort to lessen her organization’s reliance on local donations. In 2021, nearly 75% of the local United Way’s revenues came from individual contributions. That share has since dropped to 60%, with grants and contracts making up the difference.

“We’ve worked to spend other people’s money,” she said, referring to financial resources brought in from outside the Tri-Cities.

A giving community

The economic uncertainty and volatility that has become the norm since January, with large government layoffs and the financial impacts of tariffs has made businesses more careful about giving.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently reported that fundraisers have told them uncertainty was leading to mixed results this year. Some donors have stepped up but others have taken steps back or shifted their giving.

“Most nonprofits expressed concern about the second half of 2025,” the Chronicle reported. “They’re worried an economic slide coupled with lingering uncertainty will dampen giving when nonprofits need it most.

Ayers said she understands that worry as “generosity is discretionary spending.” There are also elements of the recently approved federal legislation known as the Big Beautiful Bill that will reduce the tax benefits of charitable giving by individuals, potentially impacting how much nonprofits receive in donations.

“We have little nonprofits that are just trying to make it,” Ayers said.

For now, the local United Way chapter will continue to pursue government grants and contracts as well as looking for new ways to support its mission.

“There’s 50,000 kids in the birth to middle school range here,” Ayers said. “They are our future workers, employers, volunteers, citizens.”

Cameron said the Tri-Cities community has long been charitable and supportive toward the various organizations providing needed services and aid in the region and she hopes that continues.

“I definitely encourage people to continue giving, to continue going to the events organizations are putting together,” she said. “I know we’re all creating opportunities to make your dollars go far.”