Faced with shrinking budgets and increases in need, nonprofits are calling on the state to move quickly to secure funds for social welfare programs from the federal economic stimulus package.

In meetings yesterday and last week, nonprofit leaders asked state administrators and lawmakers to start figuring out how much charities could get from the stimulus package and what needs to be done to make sure they get it.

Money for a slew of programs, from those that help the homeless to those designed to retrain laid-off workers for new jobs, could start flowing to states as early as next month. And that help, nonprofits say, can't come soon enough.

Lisa Maruyama, Hawai'i Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations president and chief executive officer, said many nonprofits are "hanging on by their fingernails" in the wake of state funding cuts and dips in donations, while also grappling with big increases in need for everything from food to domestic violence services.

"It's pretty dire out there," Maruyama said.

SKYROCKETING NEEDS

A survey of about 160 Hawai'i nonprofits in January found more than half have laid off an average of two employees each, 42 percent have cut programs and 20 percent, or about 32 agencies, started waiting lists because of an increase in need.

The survey, partly conducted by the Hawai'i Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations, comes as nonprofits are seeing skyrocketing requests for help from people who have been laid off or seen cuts in their hours. Last month, about 1,000 Hawai'i workers were cut from payrolls in mass layoffs, or those in which companies let go 50 or more employees, according to a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

That compares with 217 people who lost jobs in mass layoffs in January 2008.

Meanwhile, state officials have pledged to do everything they can to get funding for nonprofits from the stimulus package. Barry Fukunaga, the governor's chief of staff, said yesterday after meeting with nonprofits that funding from the stimulus package is expected to help restore services that have seen cuts or maintain programs bracing for declines in government or private funds.

It's unclear how much Hawai'i nonprofits could get in stimulus funds, but officials say it will be substantial. The stimulus package passed this month includes money for more than 100 social welfare and community improvement programs aimed at bolstering education, healthcare and aid to the needy.

Many of the details of how funding from the stimulus package will funnel through to states and on to businesses or nonprofits through construction projects or contracts for services have yet to be worked out. Fukunaga said the money is being sent through existing programs so new ones don't have to be created.

Some of the grants will be competitive between states.

Others will be issued state-by-state through formulas.

The issue of how to get money from the stimulus package to programs and services quickly is one being faced by states across the country.

PRESERVING PROGRAMS

Diana Aviv, CEO and president of Independent Sector, a national coalition of charities, foundations and corporate philanthropy programs, said the nonprofit sector has been hit hard by the diminishing contributions, state funding cuts and the tight credit market.

Now, she said, nonprofits need to work closely with state governments to preserve programs that help the neediest. "We encourage states to act expeditiously in distributing the economic stimulus funds that will provide continued access to countless programs delivered largely through nonprofit organizations," she said in an e-mail.

Meanwhile, some lawmakers and nonprofits are concerned about the state's ability to handle the influx in cash and make sure that it gets through to programs quickly. In a meeting with nonprofits last week, U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, said he "wasn't thrilled with the response so far" from the state in preparing to receive or apply for funds from the stimulus package.

He urged nonprofits to start applying for funding on their own.

"We've got to move," he said.

Alex Santiago, the executive director of PHOCUSED, a consortium of nonprofits, also expressed concern this week about how money would be funneled to nonprofits. "The concern on the part of many nonprofits is whether the state is actually going to be able to handle it," Santiago said.

But after the meeting yesterday morning with Fukunaga, state health and human services administrators and nonprofits, Santiago said he was "pleased" that the state was kicking off a discussion about how to get money for nonprofits from the stimulus package and was more confident that nonprofits were seen as a priority. Santiago and the Hawai'i Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations have also met with state House and Senate leadership. The groups plan to meet with the state again in mid-March.