The Business Case for Sustainable Funding Policies
November 21st, 2006 by Lynn Eakin
This is the first of a series of articles about the need to assess the impact of the new funder-provider relationship. During the 1990’s a quiet revolution has been taking place between funders and the not-for-profit agencies who deliver community-based services. Each funder has made changes independently and there has not been an evaluation of the overall impact on agencies, particularly those with multiple funders. It is the cumulative effect of this shift in how funders pay for services that is causing a crisis in the delivery of community-based health and social services.
It is the cumulative effect of the loss of flexibility for agencies to use funds, the restriction on movement of resources across programs and the contribution expectations of funders that have precipitated a sustainability crisis in not-for-profit agencies.
