Power re-balance between funders and grantees: Longer grant commitments and nonprofit sustainability

• In Event: Organizations, Occupations, and Work Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 18: Policies and Organizations

Abstract

The nonprofit sector - the employer of 10% of the US private sector workforce - has instability and staff turnover baked into its predominant funding sources: one-year foundation grants and public sector contracts. Changing funder practices could strengthen nonprofit organizations and shift the balance of power between grantors and grantees. This presentation will feature an exemplary case of a foundation making SEVEN-year grant commitments to several Bay Area nonprofits, covered a report for Fund the People, Long-Haul Grantmaking: How Many Year Grants Can Transform Nonprofit Jobs and Amplify Impact:
https://fundthepeople.org/report-long-haul-grantmaking/ The author of the report will go beyond its contents to raise up wider implications of grant duration and other innovative funder practices in the trust-based philanthropy, in the context of the current perilous political environment for the nonprofit sector.

Author

• Betsy Leondar-Wright