Yes! Funders Can Prove General Operating Grants Have Impact (and Grantees Can Help): Part 2
By Anna Pond
Principal, Anna Pond Consulting
Editor’s Note: We are back with the second installment of a two-part blog series by Anna Pond, who manages a number of evaluation-focused projects for us in her consulting role. If you missed it you can read part 1 here, and then read on below to learn about what Anna’s research into how our grantee partners spend general operating grants revealed.
Where we left off in Part 1, I told you about the design of the Flexible Funding Impact Survey (FFIS) LINK used to test where grantee partners invested RSCF general operating grant dollars—and how those investments impacted their organization capacities. Today, I’m diving into our findings. I am pleased to report that…
We Found RSCF’s General Operating Grants Do Impact Grantees
The FFIS findings revealed grantees did indeed mainly spend RSCF funds in the five areas that our grantee volunteers had named in the design process. In terms of sub-categories within the five areas, the areas of most common investment included Staff Development (within the Workplace Culture area), then Reflection (within Experimentation), and Power Analysis (within Equity and Inclusion).
Most Popular Areas of Investment (FFIS, 2018)
Furthermore, grantees were able to pinpoint RSCF’s grantmaking impact and connect it to specific organizational improvements. They did this by specifying where they invested RSCF dollars and then, using a rubric, they characterized the state of their capacity in those areas before and after receiving RSCF funds.
Bottom line, with multi-year grants of on average three years, nearly half of RSCF grantees reported they increased their capacity in areas where they invested RSCF funds. And, on average, grantees experienced a thirty percentage point increase to highest capacity with their use of RSCF funds.
To illustrate with an actual question within the Workplace culture area: Before using RSCF funding, 13.0% of grantees said staff are regularly given opportunities for growth and development. Now that percentage is 65.2%
You Too Can Demonstrate General Operating Grantmaking Impact
I’m not here to proselytize the merits of the FFIS—I’m just here to say, there exist rigorous evaluation tools like the FFIS that show general operating grants yield important outcomes for nonprofits.
If general operating support makes sense for your foundation but you’re worried you won’t be able to assess the value of this type of grantmaking, don’t hesitate. You too can design an instrument that evaluates its impact with a modest investment of time and money. And grantees can help.
After they finish jumping up and down for joy when they receive your general operating support grant letter, I’m certain they’ll be willing to partner with you in the development processes and instruments that demonstrate these funds make a difference.