. >> reporter: joan burns is the executive director of the nonprofit group class acts arts. it brings artists and performers to places like this. that would be low income schools, senior centers and even incarcerated youth programs across the region. these types of programs have been cut by nearly 30% this year because donations are way down. >> in a recession where there's a lot of emphasis on meeting the needs of fragile communities, certainly we're in competition with the nonprofits providing food for hungry people and shelter for homeless people. >> reporter: stacy palmer at the "chronicle of philanthropy" says that's a real problem for arts and cultural nonprofit groups. >> it's very challenging for nonprofits that work in areas that aren't providing direct social services to the very neediest people to be able to get that message across about why the arts or the environment or those kinds of things are important. >> reporter: according to giving u.s.a. foundation, donations to arts, culture and humanities organizations dropped by almost 2.5% to $12.3 billion last year.