Foundation Grants
Community Vital Signs
About Us
Growth of Organizations That Advance the Work of All Nonprofits Poses Challenges, Research Finds
Foundation: Gates Foundation, Hewlett Foundation
There's a growing number of "infrastructure" groups focused on helping nonprofits grow, but a new study suggests they're struggling to keep up.
The study, by the Urban Institute and George Mason University, looked at 165 such groups across the US and found that from 2014 to 2019, the median annual operating margin for them was close to zero, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
As their numbers have grown over the past decade, infrastructure groups have chased a limited amount of dollars, and their median annual operating margin was close to zero from 2014 to 2019.
Laura Tomasko, a co-author of the report, tells the Chronicle that many infrastructure groups and the nonprofits they support have benefited from government funds in the form of federal Paycheck Protection Program loans.
"When I was a program officer at the Hewlett Foundation in the late '80s and early '90s, we worked with virtually no intermediaries," she says.
"You didn't have this army of philanthropy-serving organizations and consultants that we take for granted now."
The study found that organizations and groups that serve philanthropies were more likely to operate with a more comfortable margin than small groups and those serving other nonprofits, and that greater investment in infrastructure groups would better provide for staff and allow them to take
Read the Entire Article
Selected Foundation News
A customized collection of news from foundations from around the Web.
The Tampa Bay Innovation Center is kicking off its spring accelerator program, and it's got eight startups on its list. Among them: AgWise, which focuses on the climate impact of agriculture's...more
A "first-of-its-kind impact investing network" in the Philippines is putting its money where its mouth is, in the form of collateral-free loans to women-led social and environmental...more
"It is simply not good enough that, for many advisers, their understanding of AI is that information goes into a black box,'magic happens' and something comes out." So said the outgoing director...more
"The future is green, and it's ours to invest in." That's the takeaway from Elysabeth Alfano, CEO of VegTech Invest, who is offering an online course on "Impact Investing with Plant-based...more
"Without actively looking for it, I came across a problem to solve, a powerhouse co-founder and an idea worth pursuing, so I decided to go for it," Alba Forns tellsEquities News. Forns is the...more
It's no secret that Africa's livestock industry plays a big role in the region's economy. In fact, the demand for livestock products is expected to grow by 50% by 2030, notes Business...more
The New Mexico town of El Rito has been named one of America's 10 most livable cities by Time. The honor goes to El Rito for the third year in a row, thanks in large part to the work of its...more
"This research pushed me outside my comfort zone and forced me to interact first-hand with hard truths about what social media is being used for in the modern day," Daisy Rehbock writes in her...more
The CEO of the nation's second-oldest civic monument has been ousted over allegations of financial impropriety at Dallas' Fair Park, the Dallas Morning News reports. On May 1, Brian Luallen...more
Quebec City's Mus ? 'e des beaux-arts du Qu'bec museum is getting a major boost from a single man. Michael Audain, chairman of the Jean Paul Riopelle Foundation, has pledged $10 million toward...more
Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Social Enterprise: Reaching Out to the Private Sector for Help
John Converse Townsend, a Forbes contributor, shares what can the private sector do for a social enterprise. He encourages social enterprises to reach out to corporations for help to scale up their businesses.