When funders give general operating support, they help sustain a nonprofit’s mission rather than specific projects. Nonprofits can use these funds to improve their organization in any way they choose, such as adjusting salaries, investing in technology, or improving fundraising efforts. Foundations with few or no staff are especially good at offering this support because... Read More
You are not alone if you feel stuck administering grants for your small-staffed foundation using sticky notes, whiteboards, or spreadsheets. For many lean foundations, the high costs of implementing and maintaining a purpose-built grant management system (GMS) can be prohibitive. However, by leveraging the nonprofit license donation programs from industry-leading technology providers, you can create... Read More
When foundations require detailed and specialized grant applications and reporting, it creates a lot of extra work for nonprofits. If a nonprofit secures funding from 20 to 30 foundations, it must manage applications to 40, 50, or 60 different foundations, each with unique requirements. Additionally, it must prepare grant reports for 20 to 30 foundations,... Read More
This post originally appeared on GMA Foundations’ blog. Organizational budget size is a favorite proxy indicator in philanthropy. Donors use rules of thumb to streamline grantmaking due diligence, but generalizations are imperfect. Using organizational budget size as a proxy indicator can reinforce funding inequities and lead to lost opportunity. Here are a few ways to... Read More
Multiyear funding—support that funders commit up-front for multiple years—is a key to strengthening nonprofit effectiveness, capacity, and impact. These grants guarantee income streams, lessening the time grantees need to fundraise so they can better carry out their missions. When many foundations are cutting grant budgets and reducing their number of grantees, committing scarce funds for... Read More
This post originally appeared on the Foundation Source blog. Many private foundations fund specific organizations multiple times over several grantmaking cycles. Doing so can help continue a particular charitable program or project, or simply provide a subsequent round of general operating support. As organizations seeking continued support (“returning grantees”) are viewed in a different light than first-time... Read More