Tuesday, October 16, 2007
New Research on Funding Practices: "We Can't Afford to Do Business This Way"
On September 27, 2007, the Wellesley Institute released the study We Can't Afford to Do Business This Way: A Study of the Administrative Burden Resulting from Funder Accountability and Compliance Practices.
The objective of the study was to gather baseline information on the administrative demands made by funders on the nonprofit organizations they fund. Focusing on three multi-service agencies, the research details some significant trends facing the nonprofit sector’s funding streams.
Some of the findings include:
You can download the Wellesley report at: http://wellesleyinstitute.com/files/cant_do_business_this_way_report_web.pdf
The objective of the study was to gather baseline information on the administrative demands made by funders on the nonprofit organizations they fund. Focusing on three multi-service agencies, the research details some significant trends facing the nonprofit sector’s funding streams.
Some of the findings include:
- The actual impact of the funding process is directly at odds with the very reasons governments and other funders engage nonprofit organizations to deliver community services.
- Funders, large and small, rarely give community organizations any latitude to adapt or adjust programs and finances to meet local conditions and changing circumstances.
- The reliability of funding sources for agencies remains tenuous.
- The cumulative administrative burden on agencies is all consuming.
- Multi-year grants, as currently designed, do not solve the administrative burden.
- Both large and small grants impose heavy administrative burdens.
- Grant management, of necessity, takes priority over other management responsibilities.
- Funders need to do things differently.
You can download the Wellesley report at: http://wellesleyinstitute.com/files/cant_do_business_this_way_report_web.pdf
Labels: Issues_and_Trends, Resources_and_Research
