Funding Still Matters: The issue that can't be ignored
April 18, 2005
By Nicole Zummach
If you missed the 'underground bestseller' that took Canada's nonprofit
sector by storm in 2003, that might be because it's not actually for
sale. Katherine Scott's seminal report, Funding Matters,
is available as a free download on the Canadian Council on Social
Development (CCSD) web site. However, unlike many free reports that
are downloaded with the best of intentions, never to be looked at again,
this one is causing a major stir in the sector. Even though it's been
almost two years since it was released, Scott's research on Canada's
new funding regime and its impact on nonprofit and voluntary organizations
continues to strike a chord with people.
The right report at the right time
Scott, who is also vice president of research at CCSD, says there is
a lot of frustration in the nonprofit sector. Organizations are trying
to do good work in the community, yet many funders fail to recognize that
the lack of core funding and organizational support is hampering their
ability to actually do programming. "I think [nonprofits] feel that they
are in a box and it doesn't matter how hard they work, or how many fundraisers
they hold, or how often they talk about difficulties, their concerns are
falling on deaf ears."
In speaking with people in communities across Canada, time and time again
the response Scott hears is one of relief as they discover they are not
alone in this struggle. "It's been powerful because one of the messages
of the report is that it's not about the ability of an individual agency
or an individual group to put together the resources to carry out their
mission," she explains. "There are bigger issues beyond that." These
issues include the structure of the funding, the wholesale embrace of
outcomes and results-based management with little thought given to what
the desirable outcomes might be, and how groups can engage in meaningful
reporting that serves their own ends rather than just creating lengthy
and exhausting paper trails.
Bringing people together at the local level
Not one to rest on her laurels, Scott has spent much of the last two years on
the road, leading workshops and discussions about the issues raised in
Funding Matters. "My experience, having done upwards of 35 information
and workshop sessions, is that the report has tapped a nerve and captures
an experience that is broadly felt across the nonprofit sector," she says.
Aside from presenting the findings of her research, Scott also facilitates
discussions about the local context and concerns. "This issue lives
on the ground. There is nothing I can say about this tool or that tool
that is going to necessarily be useful in the local community. Their own
solutions obviously have to rise up from their own context."
Joey Edwardh is one of the people looking for solutions at the
local level. As executive director of Community
Development Halton she invited Scott to present a Funding Matters
workshop in the Halton region. "Katherine's document allowed us to table
the dialogue around funding matters and what it is doing to the nonprofit
sector. That has been a very important thing for our community," she says.
When the issue was first presented to some politicians, Edwardh recalls
that it was met with an 'oh, not them again' attitude. Now that the dialogue
has opened up, it is an issue that the entire community is looking at.
"We used the study to create legitimacy. It allowed us to tie national
patterns to local patterns and to say 'it's not just us'. This is a national
trend that must be dealt with appropriately."
While nonprofit funding is indeed a national issue, Rick Hutchins,
project animator for PolicyLinkNB,
believes the whole idea of local and regional response is underdeveloped.
"The majority of the work that the voluntary sector does is at the local/regional
level," he points out. "That's where we really need to start looking at
how we can change things. We need to know how to use information and how
to make things move at the local level." As an organization that is made
up of government and voluntary sector participants, PolicyLinkNB is in
a good position to help disseminate Scott's research. Inviting her to
present at their annual forum increased awareness, not only of the issues,
but also the mechanisms and how to move forward. "The old adage is that
you're not a player if you're not on the team. We have to create a team
approach here," Hutchins advises. He sees collaboration as the primary
long-term objective. "Hopefully through that collaboration we will see
changes in policy and funding practices."
Funding Matters is just the beginning
Funding Matters has started the ball rolling in communities across the
country, but Scott isn't finished yet. Right now, she is working on a
summary of her experiences, which will be posted on the CCSD web site.
She is also gathering innovative practices, contacts, and information
and hopes to build a sub-site around that. There is also a third piece
of research that she plans to undertake in the coming year that will look
at barriers from the funders' perspective. "If we have a better understanding
of what the sticking points are from the funders' side, I think it might
help us craft even more specific tools." She finds it curious that an
adversarial relationship has evolved between funders and nonprofits, where
once it was actually mutually respectful and responsive. Still, she believes
there is always hope. "My take on the voluntary sector is that it is an
extraordinary source of innovation. The people in this sector are committed
and passionate and they know how to move mountains...People aren't ready
to throw in the towel at this point."
To download a copy of Funding Matters, visit: www.ccsd.ca/pubs/2003/fm/.
For more information about the follow-up initiative, visit: www.ccsd.ca/pubs/2003/fm/fm.html.
