Study on Nonprofit Support Networks Sounds a Warning
Nonprofit organizations, experiencing the effects of the financial crisis, are suffering financially, as the need for services to vulnerable populations has increased. This is a time when nonprofit institutions that provide critical services are most in need of help – capacity building, technical assistance, collaborative opportunities, training, advocacy, and so on; but, according to a report released by The Nonprofit Quarterly, the network of organizations and associations that nonprofits rely on for assistance lacks sufficient reach to serve the vast majority of nonprofit organizations.
The first sentence of the Executive Summary from the Quarterly’s Study on Nonprofit and Philanthropic Infrastructure: “The major finding of this study is that the current financing system for nonprofit infrastructure – including foundation funding – favors organizations that support and represent the larger nonprofits of the sector (which make up a small fraction of nonprofits overall) while networks and infrastructure organizations that serve tens of thousands of small to midsize nonprofits have been consistently under-funded.”
At a time of historic economic challenges, are small and midsized nonprofits that provide critical services so starved for resources that they are in special peril? After I have had a chance to read and reflect on the study’s findings, analysis, and recommendations, I may offer further comments.
I saw this report mentioned in PhilanTopic, the blog of The Foundation Center’s Philanthropy News Digest, which linked to earlier comments from Rosetta Thurman’s blog.
