Business Perspective in Nonprofit Management brought several hundred nonprofit executives to Raritan Valley Community College, in Branchburg, Monday to discuss ways to improve the business performance of their organization while delivering services more effectively.

One of the participants, Edward Filipski, board member of the Briteside Adult Day Center, in Flemington, said his organization is running a $67,000 deficit this year on a budget of $700,000. He said, “Our entire board is now involved in fundraising; the whole board has become a fundraising community. If we could make up half that deficit, we could make up a lot.”

George Gay, also a board member at Briteside, said, “The fees from our participants cover half of our budget, so we are out there begging for the other 50 percent of our budget. There is state and county money to support us, but as you know, government is cutting back on our funding.”

Phillip Brown, chief executive officer of the Somerset County United Way, said, “We are all dealing with significant changes in fundraising, and we are all thrashing around to figure out what we need to do to survive and get into a growth mode.”

The Somerset County United Way raises money through employers, who in turn raise money from employees, Brown said. But, “layoffs have affected the ability of companies to raise money from employees,” he said. Still, employers are looking for volunteer opportunities from non-employees, and the United Way has benefited from increased volunteering.

The daylong conference looked at various strategies for nonprofits to improve financial performance. Workshops included creating a stronger board, recruiting nonprofit leadership, media relations and fundraising strategies.

During his keynote address, Donald Scarry, principal economist for New Jersey Economics, in Mount Laurel, offered several suggestions to stabilize the state budget: cutting spending is not enough, he said, Gov. Chris Christie has to increase revenue.

Scarry recommended raising the state gas tax to the average gas tax in New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware, which he projected would bring in another $400M a year.

Scarry also said New Jersey should replace its traditional pension with 401(k), and state workers should contribute more to their health care than the 1.5 percent that’s being proposed.

“That is really a joke,” Scarry said. “Just a political sop.” He said New Jersey’s sales tax should be extended to nonmedical professional services like accounting and law.

E-mail Beth Fitzgerald at bfitzgerald@njbiz.com