Rick Cohen, chief operating officer at the National Council of Nonprofits, said in an email to the Chronicle of Philanthropy that he wasn't surprised that the Paycheck Protection Program was having such a disparate impact on nonprofits.

"When you look at an orchestra, they are the kind of situation where the organization went from steady income to zero dollars coming in almost overnight," Cohen said. "And the prospects for them to be able to hold concerts don’t look promising. So, they are looking at catastrophic revenue loss and limited prospects for a return to normal."

Also, an organization based in major cities like New York may have much larger expenses for things like real estate than nonprofits in smaller communities.