NCRP: Operating Grants from Foundations Way Up; Multi-Year Giving Down
By Aine Creedon
The Nonprofit Quarterly
May 24, 2013
There is no doubt that our work would be more fluid if our supporters would realize that we almost always need operating income more than special project grants and it would help to have some year-to-year security in the form of multi-year grants. A recent send-out by addresses the state of both types of funding, and it contains both good and bad news.
In a paper that breaks this issue down by geography, and even to some extent by individual foundations, NCRP has found that foundations gave 83% more operating grants in 2011 than they did in any of the years between 2008 and 2010. They found that 22% of grantmakers gave at least 50% of their grants to cover core costs in 2011. Additionally, they found that Family foundations, Southern foundations and funders giving between $5–10 million were the most likely to provide general operating support.
