Nonprofit-Government Contracts
and Grants: Findings from the 2013
National Survey of Nonprofits
Sarah L. Pettijohn and Elizabeth T. Boris
with Carol J. De Vita and Saunji D. Fyffe
Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy
The Urban Institute
December 5, 2013
The Urban Institute
Introduction
• A collaboration with National Council of
Nonprofits and funded by Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation
• Second national study of government contracts
and grants with nonprofits
• Goals of study:
– Assess size and scope of government financing
– Examine key problems and improvements
– Document administration of government funding
The Urban Institute
Methodology
• National, randomly drawn sample of 501(c)(3)
public charities with $100,000 or more in
expenses
• Stratified by state, type, and size of nonprofit
– Types not included:
• Hospitals and higher education as well as nonprofits not likely
to have government money
• 33.3 percent response rate
• All estimates are appropriately weighted
The Urban Institute
Size and Scope of Government
Financing
Type of Organization
Arts, culture, and humanities
Education
Environment and animals
Health
Human services
Other
Overall
The Urban Institute
Number of
Organizations
7,189
3,828
2,359
6,729
29,483
6,114
55,702
Dollar Amount of
Contracts and
Grants
($ millions)
1,081
5,223
1,306
36,448
80,565
12,769
137,392
Changes in Organizational
Funding
Federal government agencies
47
State government agencies
36
43
Local government agencies
17
38
39
19
46
15
Individual donations
33
Private and community foundations
32
41
27
Government fees
30
44
26
Participant fees
Decreased
The Urban Institute
24
Stayed the same
33
44
Increased
35
32
Limits on Administrative
Expense Recovery
28 27
24
18
18
9
0%
15
14
11 10
10
1–3%
4–7%
Program administration
The Urban Institute
17
8–10%
11–15%
More than
15%
Organizational administration
Other Items Included in the Report
• Administration of government
contracts/grants
– Payment methods
– Cost-sharing contracts/Matching grants
– Limitations on program and organizational
overhead
– Accountability and reporting requirements
• State level analyses (forthcoming)
The Urban Institute
Size and Scope of Government
and Human Service Nonprofits
• Nearly 200,000 contracts/grants with almost
30,000 nonprofits
• Nonprofits reported $81 billion in
government revenue
• Average nonprofit has 7 contracts/grants
• Median is 3 contracts/grants
The Urban Institute
Problems Reported by Human
Service Nonprofits, 2009 and 2012
37
39
33
39
37
39
33
39
44
33
26
23
31
44
42
2012
2009
22
24
19
26
29
30
52
47
50
2012
2009
2012
24
25
28
24
27
32
2009
2012
2009
2012
2009
Complexity of/time Complexity of/time Payments not
Government
Late payments
required by
required for
covering full cost of
changes to
(beyond contract
application
reporting*
contracted
contracts or grants
specifications)
process*
services*
midstream*
Not a problem
Small problem
Big problem
* Differences are significant at the 95 percent confidence interval
The Urban Institute
Late Payments:
Human Service Nonprofits
Average Amounts Governments Still Owe Human Service
Nonprofits, by Level
Average amount ($)
Level of Government
2009
2012
Local*
103,535
102,328
State*
231,749
190,633
Federal*
385,476
110,896
* Differences are significant at the 95 percent confidence interval
The Urban Institute