Cumberland County nonprofit funding decisions get mixed reviews — here’s what we found

Those who spoke at the June 5 public hearing for Cumberland County’s fiscal year 2024-25 budget didn’t hold back in their pleas for funding.

“We face a critical challenge,” said Renee Lane, the executive director of the Airborne and Special Operations Museum Foundation. “A tragic and fatal vehicle accident closed the theater in February 2023, and in November, the [Pritzker] Motion Simulator ceased operation after 23 years. Cost-cutting measures have included a hiring freeze, reduced hours for our retail staff and restricted advertising spending.” 

This year, the foundation won’t receive any funding from the county, along with four other nonprofit organizations that requested funding but found their requests rejected. 

Why? County Manager Clarence Grier declined CityView’s request for comment, and Chairperson Glenn Adams declined to answer specific questions from CityView. 

Instead, Adams offered this statement via email: “The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners are extremely proud of the budget they brought forth for the citizens of Cumberland County. As always, there are tough funding decisions each budget year. The Commissioners are incredibly pleased the County Manager recommended, and we could approve, the budget without a property tax increase. The approved budget allows the County to continue to provide excellent service to citizens while moving forward the priorities of the Board.” 

Here’s what we uncovered about the county’s funding decisions for nonprofits: 

Who got what?

According to the recommended fiscal year 2024-25 budget and a news release from the county, the following nonprofits will receive funding: 

• The Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County, $35,000
• Boys & Girls Club, $10,000
• Cape Fear Botanical Garden, $5,646
• Cape Fear Regional Bureau for Community Action, $10,328
• Cape Fear River Assembly, $9,923
• Child Advocacy Center, $1,000
• Cumberland County Coordinating Council On Older Adults, $100,215
• Cumberland County Veterans Council, $7,000
• HIV Task Force, $5,081
• United Way 211, $5,500
• Vision Resource Center, $15,000

Five nonprofits — the Airborne and Special Operations Museum Foundation, the North Carolina Symphony Society, the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County, Salvation Army and Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast NC — requested funding from the county but received none. 

According to an analysis by CityView, four nonprofits — the Cape Fear Regional Bureau for Community Action, Cape Fear River Assembly, HIV Task Force and Vision Resource Center — received exactly as much funding as they requested. 

Of the total nonprofits who received funding, seven got less funding than requested, and no nonprofits received more funding than requested, the analysis shows.

Of the $204,693 set aside for nonprofits in the county’s fiscal year 2024-25 budget, the Cumberland County Coordinating Council On Older Adults received the lion’s share at almost 49% of funds given out. The Arts Council came in second at 17% and the Vision Resource Center received the third-largest share of funding at 7.3%, according to CityView’s analysis.

The recommended budget states the Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation, Child Advocacy Center and Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast NC did not receive funding because they already received American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. Cumberland County received $65 million in ARPA funds as part of a $1.9 trillion federal stimulus package signed by President Joe Biden in 2021 to encourage economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

CityView previously reported the board’s ARPA Committee approved $25,000 in funding for the Airborne & Special Operations Museum Foundation and $41,368 in funding for the Child Advocacy Center in April.

“Due to budget constraints, no new funding is recommended,” the draft budget states.

‘We try to do the best we can’

Though Grier declined to provide insight on the decision-making process, two county commissioners told CityView it is often difficult. 

Commissioner Toni Stewart, who serves as the board’s vice chairperson, said county staff largely determine which nonprofits receive funding and how much each nonprofit gets, with the board only stepping in if commissioners have questions or concerns. 

“We’re just really concerned with balancing the budget and making sure that we’re doing right with people’s money,” Stewart said.

Commissioner Michael Boose said no nonprofit is guaranteed funding in any given year. 

“We try to do the best we can on stuff,” Boose said.

Having served on the board of directors for the Boys and Girls Club, Boose said he understands the frustration nonprofits can feel if they see a less established organization receiving funding from the county.  

Though Boose complimented Grier, a certified professional accountant, on his discerning eye when reviewing nonprofits’ financials, Boose also said he would like to see clearer, stricter guidelines in place at the county level for the funding process. 

“We don’t have a uniform report. We don’t have any uniform criteria,” he said. “We don’t have any requirement that anybody tell us they did anything with the money.”

Stewart said the board had established a rule that nonprofits could not both receive money through ARPA funds and receive money from the county through the budget process.

“With the nonprofits this year, because we had the ARPA funds early on, we were very selective about who we gave the ARPA funds to as far as nonprofits,” she said. 

Still, Stewart said she believes the board did the best it could. 

“I know that there was some organizations that didn’t get what they thought [they would] or didn’t think that it was fair, but we really do try to be fair to everyone and make sure that we are doing the best by taxpayer money,” she said.

‘The county’s a valuable partner’

Some nonprofits who did receive funding told CityView the money will support a variety of creative uses. 

Terri Thomas, the executive director of the Vision Resource Center, said her organization’s $15,000 in funding will pay for improvements to the center’s Braille Trail and sensory garden at 2736 Cedar Creek Road, assistive technology that promotes independent living, transportation, and a service where volunteers read articles from local newspapers on a streaming service to make news stories more accessible for those with visually impairments. 

Over at the Cumberland County Council On Older Adults, $100,215 in county funding will allow the program to continue to deliver meals to homebound seniors, according to Executive Director Lisa Hughes. The Arts Council will receive $35,000 to support a 45-year-old program that pays artists to put on one-time programs and classes at Title I schools, Arts Education Manager Sarah Busman told CityView. And at Cape Fear River Assembly, their $9,923 will support Executive Director Maya Miller’s part-time salary and the organization’s work with Indigenous communities on issues impacting the Cape Fear River, Miller said. 

But for some nonprofits who missed out, though they may have other funding opportunities, the lack of financial contribution from the county could pose a problem.

Mary Sonnenberg, the president of the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County, told CityView her organization will have to try to combine multiple funding options to support its work. The Partnership requested $300,000 to support its Family Connects program, which provides home visits for babies born at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center, but received no county funding, according to the draft budget. 

“At this point, insurance does not cover these home visits, but Medicaid could,” she said. “I’ve done funding for early childhood programs for most of my 45-year career, and you have to blend funding from every area you can in order to provide the best services.” 

While the lack of funding from the county isn’t ideal, she said, she can appreciate the limitations the county faces. 

“My husband was a city manager for 30 years, so I understand the ins and outs of it, and we had tight budgets this year, too,” Sonnenberg said. “We will continue to be at the table, sharing our needs and trying to collaborate and look for, hopefully, other opportunities in the future for some county support.”

The Partnership also had to cut 24% of its administrative budget for the coming fiscal year due to changes in the North Carolina Pre-Kindergarten Program funding, she said. While EdNC reported the General Assembly voted Thursday to provide $67.5 million in additional funding for childcare providers, a Dept. of Health and Human Services spokesperson has said that would not be enough to fully fund all childcare providers. 

Sonnenberg views the county as a valuable partner.

“I think as long as we continue to be at the table, we can continue to build strong partnerships across a variety of resources for families,” Sonnenberg said. ”Because one resource isn’t going to be all they need. So we all need to be at the table collaborating.”

Reporter Lexi Solomon can be reached at lsolomon@cityviewnc.com or 910-423-6500.

This story was made possible by contributions to CityView News Fund, a 501c3 charitable organization committed to an informed democracy.