For Immediate Release

NEW CENTER FOR EFFECTIVE PHILANTHROPY RESEARCH REPORT SUGGESTS THAT DEBATE ON PROVISION OF SUPPORT IS TOO NARROW: OPERATING SUPPORT NOT THE “SILVER BULLET”

Cambridge, MA …Operating support is important to nonprofit grantees, but only when grants are larger and longer term than what is typically provided today by even the country’s largest foundations, according to a report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) released today. The report, In Search Of Impact: Practices and Perceptions in Foundations' Provision of Program and Operating Grants to Nonprofits, brings new data to the debate about current foundation practices, attitudes underlying those practices, and the impact on grantees of foundation choices.

“Our data and analysis suggest that the debate about type of support has overlooked the importance of other grant attributes, such as grant size and duration,” said CEP Associate Director Judy Huang, who co-authored the report with CEP Executive Director Phil Buchanan and Senior Research Officer Ellie Buteau, PhD. “Operating support matters, but it isn’t the silver bullet it is sometimes made out to be,” said Huang.

The research, which was funded in part by The Aspen Institute, explores how foundation CEOs think about what type of support to provide to nonprofits. It also reveals what types of grants nonprofits believe are “ideal” and result in the most impact.

Among the report’s key findings:

• Most grants made by the 163 larger foundations analyzed in the report are program-restricted, small, and short term.


• The majority of foundations provide fewer than 20 percent of their grantees with operating support.


• The median program support grant is $60,000, the median operating support grant is $50,000, and fully 10 percent of grants of all types are less than $10,000.


• Nearly half of grants are a year in duration.


• Foundation CEOs surveyed see operating support as more likely to make a positive impact on grantee organizations, but most place other priorities – such as an ability to assess outcomes or respond to board pressure to provide program support – higher in their decision-making.


• To grantees, type of support is important – and operating support is preferred – but only when grants are larger and longer-term than what is typically provided today.

“The findings raise many fundamental questions,” said Buchanan. “Foundation approaches to the question of type of support relate centrally to the definition of their own roles and goals. We hope that, by revealing both current practice and the attitudes of foundation leaders and grantees about the question of type of support, we can help spark a broader debate about these matters that includes a fuller discussion of both what foundations are seeking to achieve and what grantees really value.”

The report, as well as reactions and other resources, are available for free download.

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR EFFECTIVE PHILANTHROPY

The Center for Effective Philanthropy is a nonprofit organization focused on providing management and governance tools to define, assess, and improve overall foundation performance. CEP received initial funding in 2001 and is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information on CEP's work, including its research, publications, and assessment tools, see www.effectivephilanthropy.org.