About one in ten (15%) CDCs have recently considered consolidating or merging with another organization, but very few – one in fifty (2%) – recently considered dissolution. Both categories are down compared to 2008, perhaps because those organizations already consolidated or dissolved. The majority of CDCs considering merging stated it was for cost savings and the two organizations that considered dissolution did so out of funding concerns.

Almost all CDCs that changed their mission updated it to include a new program while keeping the core of the original mission. Some made the wording more concise and focused.

The reasons for change in audience were varied. Some CDCs were reaching out to new audiences, some saw a shift in which program had the biggest demand and others experienced middle-income populations falling into poverty: “The community service side of the business is seeing families in need who were never there – persons who are now unemployed and/or at risk of losing homes aren’t limited to ‘traditional’ populations.”

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Only one in ten CDCs said the variety or types of programming they offer decreased over the past two years. Based on those numbers, an estimated 35% of CDCs are attempting to maintain or even increase the variety of programming despite cutbacks in staff and/or budget.

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Change in Operational Budget

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