Friday, May 18, 2007
The Pre-LMDA Picture: Patchwork Funding for Women's Services
With women's employment growth doubling that of men's in the past year, it's not surprising that respondents to ACTEW's Pre-LMDA Survey report high demand for their services for women, especially among agencies that focus predominantly on women. However, agencies are not seeing any increase in funding related to women-only programming, even as they report a slight increase in overall funding.
In order to meet client demand, agencies seek funding from numerous sources. Agencies that focus on women pull in bits of funding from many more sources than their peers, although this does not translate into more funding overall.
Women's organizations are also far more likely to tap into private donations from individuals and corporations. Seventy-nine percent of women-focused organizations receive support from individuals, while only 53% of all survey respondents have these donors. However, private funding is not a significant source of income in most cases.
While a diverse funding strategy avoids putting all the eggs in one basket, it also comes with challenges. As a respondent says:
Our next entry on the Pre-LMDA Picture: Government funding
In order to meet client demand, agencies seek funding from numerous sources. Agencies that focus on women pull in bits of funding from many more sources than their peers, although this does not translate into more funding overall.
Women's organizations are also far more likely to tap into private donations from individuals and corporations. Seventy-nine percent of women-focused organizations receive support from individuals, while only 53% of all survey respondents have these donors. However, private funding is not a significant source of income in most cases.
While a diverse funding strategy avoids putting all the eggs in one basket, it also comes with challenges. As a respondent says:
"Providing the service is the easy part. ...[H]ow difficult it is for a multi-service women-centred program to raise the needed project funding from various sources, develop and nurture the many needed partnerships..."Read the full report: Patching It Together: Employment and Training Opportunities for Women in Ontario Pre-Ontario-Canada Labour Market Development Agreement.
Our next entry on the Pre-LMDA Picture: Government funding
Labels: Pre-LMDA
