Like many Wisconsin-based organizations, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent office shutdowns forced SecureFutures, a Milwaukee-based non-profit and IPS client, to quickly adapt to a new reality.
“Our employees are all working remotely now,” says Brenda Campbell, SecureFutures President and CEO. “And on the program side, we moved quickly to becoming a resource for educators – providing guidance on how to use our financial education programs in the new, virtual learning environment.”
But changes to the customer-facing side of the organization were only part of the pandemic-enduring equation. SecureFutures needed to make logistical changes to the business-administration side as well.
With assistance from IPS, SecureFutures applied and received a Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan. That, alongside the tremendous financial support from their corporate, foundation, and individual donors helped the organization to weather the initial shutdown. However, due to the market impact of COVID-19, Campbell estimated philanthropic giving will decrease by as much as 25% this year. Faced with the realities of a full-on recession, Campbell needed to make additional changes to their payroll structure to ensure the group’s survival.
“Knowing the economic challenges on the horizon, we all agreed to make some hard choices,” Campbell explains. “I reached out to IPS to have my pay cut and enact a temporary salary reduction for our entire team. Everyone banded together and sacrificed for the greater good of the organization. For that, I’m forever grateful.”
For SecureFutures, their ability to adapt has allowed them to continue forging ahead despite any adversity and uncertainty. They quickly rescheduled their largest annual fundraiser from an in-person May event to an all-virtual September affair. And it’s now looking like the non-profit will be holding steady until the market rebounds.
“We definitely took these lemons and made lemonade,” says Campbell. “We made the most of the virtual format by inviting some of the biggest names in the investment world to join us as guest speakers. This gave us the strongest speaker line-up ever, and we are on target to surpass our fundraising goal.”
Congratulations to Brenda Campbell and the team at SecureFutures. IPS is honored to play a small role in your perseverance and continued success.
If your organization needs assistance in adjusting payroll logistics to better fit the existing marketplace, be sure to contact one of our payroll specialists right away.