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CHANGING EXPECTATIONS - That's what it is all about. Today's foundations are challenged to balance funding requests for community programs with overwhelming requests for technical support. In the past, foundations chose to fund only direct program services without considering the cost of how to effectively collect data and measure the program's success. With prudent investments in technology, today's successful foundations can not only direct funding to program services but also set a new standard for how program success is measured and how information is used.

Funding "technology" is much more than "buying computers." GroundWork group works closely with foundations to develop training opportunities for foundations to learn about creative approaches to building capacity within nonprofit organizations. GroundWork group also partners with foundations to develop roadmaps for driving change through prudent technology investments into the future. For more information about these Changing Expectations and the services GroundWork group provides for foundations, please read the GroundWork group White Paper "Changing Expectations."


IT Plan and Proposal Summaries:
GroundWork group pre-screens IT plans and funding proposals from its members and assists in locating potential funding sources. Summaries of these quality proposals are available online for your review. The full proposals are available by contacting us.

Partner with GroundWork:
GroundWork group is a collaborative community project involving people from the business sector, the IT sector, the nonprofit sector and from organizations that fund nonprofits. Please refer to our sponsor slide show on our homepage to see who is involved with GroundWork group. If your foundation is interested in working with GroundWork group, please complete our on-line inquiry form.

Foundation Information
Changing Expectations

"Information on demand" is being increasingly expected by donors and consumers of nonprofit services. The time is right for foundations to lead the community in changing expectations and GroundWork group can help!

Expectations regarding how people receive and process information are constantly changing. Today, people expect accurate information delivered quickly and available upon demand (24 hours a day, 7 days a week.) With computers, email, cell phones, websites, and virtual transaction processing the technology exists to fulfill these expectations. Gone are the days when it would take a week or more to complete a registration form, put it in the mail with a check and wait for a receipt. Today, transactions are processed immediately, online, using virtual forms and credit cards. Business is lost by companies that cannot fulfill these expectations.

The community's expectations regarding the effectiveness of nonprofit organizations have also changed. The community no longer believes that nonprofits are worthy of support because "they do good work." Today, the community expects to see quantifiable results and to know the return on its investment in nonprofit organizations and the people they serve.

Nonprofit funding sources have changed their expectations in response to the changing community expectations. Funders want online submission of information, clearly defined objectives, accurate, timely information that includes output information, outcome information and cost information. Projections about the future demand for service and research about the "best practices" being used in the field are also necessary. Nonprofit organizations are increasingly being expected to have an internet presence and to post disclosure documents to help potential donors and funders have ready access to important organizational effectiveness data.

Yet, expectations about the "efficiency" of nonprofit organizations have not changed. Funders and the community still expect nonprofit organizations to demonstrate that all their funding goes to "direct services." Some funding sources refuse to allow even one percent of the funding to pay for "administrative overhead." Overhead such as computers, high speed internet access, websites, web hosting, software, IT support personnel, financial personnel, compliance officers, supervisors and the like that are essential to meet legal, auditing, funder and community expectations are not considered "eligible expenses."

Perhaps it is time to change that expectation. Perhaps foundations are the leaders needed to help the community understand that expecting 100% of funding to go directly to clients is not realistic. Perhaps it is time for the foundation community to expect to see a line item in the budget for nonprofit organizations dedicated to technology and the support of other infrastructure required to demonstrate effectiveness and operate efficiently and responsibly.

GroundWork group believes the time is right to change these expectations and is interested in working with foundations to lead the effort!

Foundations can call upon GroundWork group to:

  • provide speakers for formal foundation functions (seminars, workshops);
  • meet with foundation staff to help analyze technology funding requests;
  • review funding applications that include a technology component and that are received by foundations to help identify if "best practices" have been included;
  • have summaries of pre-screened technology funding applications posted on the GroundWork group website and make the entire project proposal available to foundations upon request;
  • help identify appropriate outcomes for technology projects;
  • help foundations create assessment processes for IT proposals in order to make sound investment decisions;
  • help identify the most prudent IT investments that will help nonprofit organizations enhance their capacity for the long-term, not continually return to the foundation for funding to replace obsolete equipment;
  • meet directly with foundation personnel and potential donors to encourage use of donated funds for support of quality IT projects;
  • provide periodic educational seminars for foundation personnel to assist in developing in-house expertise in the assessment of IT proposals.