What does the financial crisis mean for nonprofits and social good? With a number of big investment firms shutting down in New York City, are we going to lose the philanthropy of those people? Will there be no more wealthy patrons of the arts?

We are apparently approaching or already at Wall Street Armageddon (Wall Street being an actual street in New York, which I sometimes forget). Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are the two biggest victims of the current financial crisis and were largely located downtown. The effect of all those firms imploding should have an impact on New Yorkers, obviously. But what should we expect?

According to this video from Thirteen about the financial crisis and New York, a third of New York City’s tax base comes from Wall Street. The Wall Street Journal says the financial services industry has let go of 11,000 jobs and:

Jobs in financial services tend to be more important for the overall economy. About 5% of New York City’s jobs are in financial services, but they account for about a quarter of wages, some $60 billion in 2006, according to the New York Office of the State Comptroller. That same year, personal and corporate taxes paid by the securities industry accounted for about 10% of the city’s tax revenue.

Bloomberg has called for $1.5 billion in cuts from city spending, meaning potential cuts in everything from schools to subway service.

The New York Sun reports we could see fewer banks branches. I’m not particularly troubled by this, seeing as there are more bank branches in New York than Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts combined.

No one knows how big the impact will be and when we’ll all really feel it. So what does this mean for those of us working at nonprofits? Are grants, donations and funding going to slowly evaporate? A brief note on WNYC said this:

The financial crisis is likely to have a direct impact on many of the city’s nonprofits, which rely on corporate gifts. Fran Barrett is the executive director of Community Resource Exchange, which works with hundreds of nonprofits, including soup kitchens and housing programs. She says the economic downturn will create a great demand for social services, just as nonprofits have to lay off their own employees.

BARRETT: We’ve got all this talent and ability to help, and it’s just so frustrating that there are people out there who need our help, but the nonprofit sector will be limping along because it won’t be able to sustain itself.

REPORTER: Barrett says there are about 20,000 nonprofits in the city, and they employ more people than finance, insurance and real estate combined.

How do you feel about all of this? What have you done in recent weeks to prepare for the future? I’ve considered moving around my 401k, clearing out my Washington Mutual bank account and, of course, stuffing cash in my mattress.