Paperwork vs. progress: the case for streamlining

by Nick Geisinger, Communications Director, Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers

Good news for grantmakers concerned about the environment–we may be able to save entire forests by revisiting our own application processes!

I kid! But truthfully, there is much room to improve the most basic grantmaking function. Several weeks ago we surveyed our members about the grant application processes and about 30 of you responded. We learned that:

• The median grant size in our membership is between $10K and $25K–not huge amounts.
• No responding organizations are tracking or estimating the size of “net grants,” determined by subtracting the cost to the grantee of seeking, getting, managing, and reporting on the grant. The net grant is the amount you’re actually giving.*
• Over half do not vary application/reporting requirements based on size of the grant.
• Over two-thirds do not vary application/reporting requirements based on type of the grant (general operating support, programs, etc.).
• Over half have the same application process for first-time grantees as they do for previously funded or long-term grantees.

These results indicate that with some basic changes in philosophy and practice, grantmakers across this region could move millions of dollars from the Paperwork column to the Progress column.

Are you fired up now? Can I get an “amen”??

We hope grantmakers will seize the opportunity of our upcoming Streamlining Workshop (and the follow-up assistance that accompanies it) to take care of business. These issues have existed in our sector for decades, and they are solvable with just a little attention.

Related:
- Project Streamline
- Scaling up vs. scaling back (WGDaily)
-“Sustainability.” What’s that mean, exactly? (WGDaily)

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* To determine your “net grant to the sector” [a notion that Tactical Philanthropy touched on in 2008], you would include costs incurred by the applicants that don’t receive grants.

Here’s an illustration of this issue, modified from a previous column:

• A small nonprofit spends about $400 per working day on salary and benefits for its development person.
• If this person spends a total of one day applying for your $10,000 grant, half a day managing it, and one day on the report, your net grant was $9000.
• If 10 other nonprofits sought the grant unsuccessfully, your net grant to the sector was $5000.
• If 25 applied, you de-capitalized the sector. Yikes! (Note that this example does not take into account CEO and CFO time spent managing relationships, etc.)