KHARIS Group to host 10th annual NEA nonprofit summit

Funding in the nonprofit world is rapidly changing and other advancements such as AI are morphing the sector. KHARIS Group Consulting will host the 10th Annual Nonprofit Summit of Northeast Arkansas on May 19 at the Cooper Alumni Center on the Arkansas State University campus.

KHARIS CEO and summit founder Shunqetta Cunningham told Talk Business & Politics that non-profits throughout NEA and around the state are struggling to deal with this new financial environment. Since the election of President Donald Trump there have been severe cuts in funding and threats to not pay funds that had already been doled.

“How do we move to be relevant in the next 10 years? That’s a question many in the nonprofit world are asking right now,” she said. “Funding will never be the same again.”

There are about 20,000 nonprofits that operate in Arkansas, according to ProPublica. Only about 1,000 of those are in NEA. Nonprofits generate about $25 billion in economic activity annually and employ about 150,000 people.

Nonprofits include religious and educational institutions, human services, community action agencies, and many others. Nearly 80% have a staff of less than five employees.

A lot of funding for these organizations comes through philanthropy and in other parts of the state, such as in Northwest Arkansas, there is a solid philanthropic base, Cunningham said. That’s not the case in NEA. One of her goals is to build that base in the region.

“We do not have a consistent hub of philanthropy here,” she said.

A second problem for nonprofits now is AI. Programs such as ChatGPT can write grant proposals with ease and the number grant proposals submitted has skyrocketed in recent years, she said.

Some institutions such as the National Institute of Health has tried to “weed out” these applicants, while other institutions such as the King Foundation are accepting them. The King Foundation has reportedly had a 300% spike in applications in recent years.

The day long summit will focus on funding and AI changes. Each year the summit draws in about 100 attendees, and most of them are not from Jonesboro, Cunningham said.

“Arkansas is one of the most impoverished states and the impacts to nonprofits will have severe consequences for rural areas,” she said. “This is an equity moment for rural America.”