One Year After the Fires: A Nonprofit Sector Snapshot
One year after the devastating 2025 Los Angeles fires, recovery remains far from complete.
While rebuilding continues across affected communities, nonprofit organizations, the very backbone of recovery efforts, are still navigating significant operational, financial, and workforce challenges. The Center for Nonprofit Management’s new 2026 LA Fires Report provides a snapshot of what nonprofit leaders are experiencing on the ground and what is needed to sustain long-term recovery.
Recovery Is Still Ongoing
Survey findings show that the impacts of the fires remain deeply felt across nonprofit organizations one year after the fires.
These findings confirm what many leaders already knew: recovery does not happen in phases. Immediate relief and long-term rebuilding continue to overlap, placing sustained pressure on nonprofit operations.
The Needs of Communities Remain Urgent
Nonprofit leaders report that the most pressing needs facing communities today are:
As the recovery timeline extends, many survivors continue to face compounding financial hardship and mental health challenges, reinforcing the essential role nonprofits play in connecting communities to critical resources.
Workforce Burnout Is a Growing Concern
Behind every recovery effort are nonprofit professionals who are also experiencing crisis fatigue.
More than 71% of responding organizations report burnout and mental health challenges affecting their workforce, underscoring the importance of investing in nonprofit staff capacity and well-being as part of long-term recovery planning.
What Helps Recovery
Nonprofit leaders identified three priorities to help aid recovery efforts:
These findings reinforce the need for coordinated cross-sector action to support nonprofit infrastructure. Nonprofits serve as the connective tissue between survivors and services.
Moving Forward Together
CNM’s ForwardTogether initiative is designed to help nonprofits navigate overlapping crises, from disaster recovery to funding instability, by providing training, legal guidance, and technical assistance at no cost to organizations. Stay up to date with CNM as this initiative aims to launch in Q1 of this year. Follow us on all socials and subscribe to our newsletter linked below.
As our communities continue to recover, one thing is clear: strengthening nonprofits is essential to strengthening our communities.
To learn more about the data, insights, and recommendations shaping the next phase of recovery, read the full 2026 LA Fires Report.
