As businesses around New Canaan struggle through the economic downturn, it is the nearly 200 non-profit organizations in town that could be feeling the crunch the most.

"Everybody is competing for the same donations from the same residents in town," said Cynthia Gorey, executive director of the New Canaan Community Foundation, which helps fund the community's non-profit organizations. "Some [non-profit organizations] are not going to make it through this downturn because charitable giving is absolutely down. It's not gone but it's definitely down."

New Canaan is home to 197 non-profit organizations, according to statistics provided by the Internal Revenue Service. This equates to nearly one non-profit for every 100 New Canaan residents, a staggering amount compared to a city like Bridgeport where there is approximately one non-profit for every 335 residents.

With so many non-profit organizations vying for the same donation money, some non-profit organizations have resorted to more creative fundraising methods.

"Fundraising has taken some ingenuity," said Susan Cossette Eng, director of marketing for the New Canaan YMCA.  "This year we introduced a new fundraiser with the Circus [Vidbel]. That's going to help us make up some of the shortfall."

And while the YMCA has seen some decrease in their donations, Gorey believes they are among the less affected.

"The library, the YMCA, the nature center—the places that have bricks and mortar, where people can go and look at them—they tend to do better… Those which are less critical to everyday life are really the ones suffering," said Gorey.

The New Canaan Community Foundation has found many non-profit organizations across the region are in the same position. Many are hurting from tight budgets, as charitable donations tend to dip during economic recessions, and are seeing an increase in the services demanded.

One such non-profit organization is the Fairfield County chapter of SCORE, which stands for Service Corps of Retired Executives. SCORE, which provides free counseling to small business owners and firms, has seen their clients more than double in the past two years.

The Chairman of Fairfield County's SCORE, Mike O'Malley, attributes the rise in people seeking counseling to the tough economy.

"People are seeing it's difficult to get a job so they tend to want to turn to their own resources and creativity," said O'Malley, who helps clients through the process of starting their own business.

Yet, despite the tough economic times, non-profit organizations are still relying on the charitable nature of New Canaanites.

"New Canaan is a unique community," said Eng. "There's always going to be that core group of people in town who are philanthropic."