Foundation Exec: Donors Want Us to Fund Programs, Not Operations

Do foundations better support nonprofits by funding general operating expenses instead of specific projects, as a New York Times piece suggested last week? No way, responds a foundation executive in a letter to the Times yesterday:

… [O]ur supporters rightfully expect that their donations are directed to programs that our mission specifies. If we were to provide grants for general expenses, the money could and most likely would be used for purposes outside our grant-giving mission and would not honor the intention of our donors.

I disagree. Grants used to hire talented staff, say, or purchase technologies can help in mission fulfillment just as much as targeted funding. If that great hire is the person who takes the nonprofit to the next level, well, isn’t that ultimately what the donor intended?

However, letter writer Linda Walder Fiddle’s assertion that “project-related grants [don't] sacrifice an organization’s ability to focus on strategic work like advocacy” is a good observation. As Fiddle, of the autism-related Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation, notes, “The challenge is to support organizations with a demonstrated track record of fiscal and program management that yields accountable and transparent results to donors and society at large.” A tall order, to be sure, but one completely compatible with support of operations as well as programs. | 501(c)