1 THE STATE OF GRANTSEEKING FACT SHEET ORG ANIZATIONAL COMPARISO N BY C ENSUS DIV ISION S PRING 2013 The State of Grantseeking Spring 2013 is the sixth semi-annual informal survey of nonprofits conducted by GrantStation and PhilanTech to help illustrate the current state of grantseeking in the U.S. During February and March 2013, 1,017 nonprofits of different sizes, in different geographies, and representing different issue areas completed the survey online, reporting on information based on the last six months of 2012. Organizational location determined by census division is a factor influencing the grantseeking experience. While not as definitive as organizational budget or mission focus, when viewed through the lens of census division, variations among organizational profiles and grant activity profiles including mission focus, service area, annual budget, grant activity, median grant award size, and government funding levels help us to understand the state of grantseeking in 2013 at a more granular and actionable level. Census Division The State of Grantseeking Spring 2013 Report refers to organizational location. This fact sheet allows us to delve into organizational variations among the eight census divisions containing the states designated in question six in The State of Grantseeking Spring 2013 Survey. United States census divisions are as follows: 1. Region 1 (Northeast) a. Division 1 (New England): Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut b. Division 2 (Mid-Atlantic): New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey 2. Region 2 (Midwest) a. Division 3 (East North Central): Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio b. Division 4 (West North Central): Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa 3. Region 3 (South) a. Division 5 (South Atlantic): Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida b. Division 6 & 7 (South Central): Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana
2 4. Region 4 (West) a. Division 8 (Mountain): Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico b. Division 9 (Pacific): Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii Organizational Profile by Census Division Organization service area 1 predominance can be delineated by census division. By census division, the red highlighted cells in the chart below indicate the greatest response rate to the organizational service area; the italicized and bolded percentage is the greatest response rate to the service area across all census divisions. Because population density is an indicator of a region s ability to support organizations, no census division even those containing less populous states cited rural areas as the top service area. For example, 1 http://www.census.gov/geo/reference/ua/urban-rural-2010.html The Census Bureau s urban-rural classification is fundamentally a delineation of geographical areas, identifying both individual urban areas and the rural areas of the nation. The Census Bureau s urban areas represent densely developed territory and encompass residential, commercial, and other non-residential urban land uses.
3 respondents from organizations located in the less populous Mountain census division (containing eight states and 7.2% of the population) reported locations primarily in urban areas (30.1%) or in areas serving the populations of rural, urban cluster, and urban areas (37.0%). In comparison, respondents from organizations located in the more populous South Central census division (containing eight states and 17.9% of the population) reported organization locations primarily in urban areas (46.9%) and in areas serving the populations of rural, urban cluster, and urban areas (21.9%). Because population density is also an indicator of organizational budget size, census divisions that encompass more populous areas are home to larger organizations (measured by budget), while census divisions that include less populous areas tend to contain smaller organizations. By census division, the red highlighted cells in the chart below indicate the greatest response rate to organizational budget range; the green highlighted cells indicate the second greatest response rate. The italicized and bolded percentage is the greatest response rate to organizational budget range across all census divisions.
4 However, organizational mission focus is a better indication of organizational budget size than census division. For all respondents, the most frequently reported budget ranges within the most frequently reported mission focuses are as follows: Human services focused organizations (12.9%) most frequently reported budget ranges between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000 (27.6%). Arts, culture, and humanities focused organizations (10.3%) most frequently reported budget ranges between $100,000 and $250,000 (25.0%). Health care focused organizations (8.2%) most frequently reported budget ranges over $25,000,000 (20.5%). Educational nonprofit organizations (8.0%) most frequently reported budget ranges between $100,000 and $250,000 (26.4%). Educational institutions (6.1%) most frequently reported budget ranges over $25,000,000 (46.8%). Housing and shelter focused organizations (6.4%) most frequently reported budget ranges between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000 (30.0%). Youth development focused organizations (5.6%) most frequently reported budget ranges either under $50,000 (25.5%) or between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000 (25.5%). Community improvement focused organizations (5.3%) most frequently reported budget ranges between $100,000 and $250,000 (32.7%). Social services focused organizations (5.2%) most frequently reported budget ranges between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000 (33.3%). By census division, the red highlighted cells in the chart below indicate the greatest response rate to the mission focus; the italicized and bolded percentage is the greatest response rate to the mission focus across all census divisions.
5 Those census divisions with respondents reporting higher frequencies of higher-budget mission focuses (human services, educational institutions, and health care) contained organizations with higher annual budgets. Grants Activity Profile by Census Division Census division affected organizational reliance on grant funding. Organizations in the New England and Pacific census divisions reported the least reliance on grant funding as a percentage of their annual budgets. Organizations in the South Atlantic and Mountain census divisions report the most reliance on grant funding as a percentage of their annual budgets. When viewed at a more detailed level, organizations in the Mid-Atlantic census division reported over seventy-five percent funding by grants (18.6%) more frequently than organizations in other census divisions, while organizations in the East North Central census division reported under ten percent funding by grants (43.3%) more frequently than organizations in other census divisions. By census division, the red highlighted cells in the chart below indicate the greatest response rate to the grant funding percentage of budget range. Of all survey respondents, 30.8% indicated that private foundations were their largest source of grant funding, followed by Federal grants (22.7%) and state grants (13.4%). Less than ten percent of organizations indicated each of the other sources (community foundations, corporations, local government, and other sources) as their largest funder. Religious groups, private gifts, and the United Way were most frequently mentioned within the other sources response. Still the most frequent source as the largest grant funder, private foundations increased by 13.7%, from 27.1% of respondent organizations in spring 2012 to 30.8% in spring 2013. All government funding decreased as the largest grant source, with state grants showing the largest decrease (-11.8%).
6 Organizations in the West North Central census division most frequently reported private foundations as the largest source of total grant funding (36.7%), versus 30.8% for all respondents. Community foundation and corporate grants were reported as the largest source of total grant funding by less than 12.0% of respondents in any census division, with the exception of corporate grants in the New England census division (15.2%). By census division, the red highlighted cells in the charts below indicate the greatest response rate to the largest source of grant funding; the green highlighted cells indicate the lowest response rate to the funding source. Government grants as the largest source of total grant funding varied by source and frequency among the census divisions. Organizations in the Mid-Atlantic census division were most reliant on government funding (50.5%), while organizations in the West North Central census division were least reliant on government funding (33.3%). Federal government funding as the largest grant source ranged from 16.8% of respondent organizations in the Middle Atlantic census division to 25.0% of respondent organizations in the South Atlantic census division. State government funding was most frequently the largest source of total grant funding for organizations in the Mid-Atlantic census division (29.7%), and was least frequently the largest source of total grant funding for organizations in the Mountain census division (5.0%). Local government grants were the least frequent largest source of total grant funding in all census divisions, with the exception of the South Central census division.
7 All respondent organizations that received grant awards of $50,000 or more increased by 8.5% (51.3% of organizations in the spring 2013 report versus 47.3% of organizations in the spring 2012 report). Awards of $10,000 or less decreased by 23.2%, affecting small organizations for which the under $10,000 category accounted for 54.4% of all awards. Awards ranging from $500,000 to $1,000,000 also decreased. The corresponding increase in awards ranging from $10,000 to $500,000 and over $1,000,000 suggests that the funders did not stop giving, but instead altered the amount of their awards. The median of the largest grant award is a good benchmarking tool for organizations. The drill-down by census division shows wide variation in the size of the median grant award, ranging from $36,250 for organizations within the West North Central census division to $90,000 for organizations within the Mid- Atlantic census division. This range variation may reflect the frequency of government grant awards by census division, because government grants tend to be larger than grants from private funders. (As the source of the largest award, 50.5% of organizations in the Mid-Atlantic census division cited government funding versus 33.3% of organizations in the West North Central census division.) Increased numbers of grant awards are the result of increased numbers of grant applications. Organizations from census divisions where over the median rate of 44.0% of the respondents applied for more grants in the last six months of 2012 than they had applied for in the last six months of 2011 also reported receiving more grant awards (over the median of 30.0%) than did other organizations. The South Central census division was an exception to this rule; 45.7% of organizations applied for more grants, but only 27.2% received more awards. Award size in not related to either the number of grant applications or the number of awards. Of the top three census divisions where respondents reported larger award sizes (East North Central, 29.0%; South Atlantic, 27.7%; and Pacific, 27.4%), only the East North Central census division was above the median response rate in applications, awards, and award size. In addition, respondents from the Mountain census division reported applying for more grants and receiving more awards than the median response rate, but cited the lowest rate of increase in award size (22.5%).
8 By census division, the red highlighted cells in the charts below indicate the greatest response rate to the grant activity; the violet highlighted cells indicate the second greatest response rate; and the green highlighted cells indicate the lowest response rate to the grant activity. Challenges to Grantseeking by Census Division Lack of time and/or staff was the top challenge reported by those surveyed; it was also the greatest challenge for organizations in all census divisions, except for the Mid-Atlantic (reduced funding) and West North Central (researching and finding mission-specific grants) census divisions. Reduced funding and researching and finding mission-specific grants were also frequently reported as grantseeking challenges by respondents in all census divisions. Writing grants and internal organizational issues were among the least frequently reported challenges.
9 By budget size, the red highlighted cells in the chart below indicate the greatest response rate to the grantseeking challenges; the green highlighted cells indicate the second greatest response rate.
10 METHODOLOGY This survey and the corresponding report present a ground level look at the state of grantseeking, and were not scientifically conducted. The survey was conducted online using Zoomerang. The survey was open from February 8, 2013, through April 8, 2013, and received 1,017 responses. It was promoted through the GrantStation Insider newsletter, a PhilanTech email newsletter, NTEN and TechSoup media, many partner organizations, and various social media outlets, including Facebook and Twitter. ABOUT GRANTSTATION GrantStation offers nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies the opportunity to identify potential funding sources for their programs or projects as well as the resources to mentor these organizations through the grantseeking process. GrantStation provides access to searchable databases of private grantmakers that accept inquiries and proposals from a variety of organizations, profiles of Federal financial assistance programs, state-level financial and technical assistance resources, and a growing database of international grantmakers. Our Mission: GrantStation is a premiere online funding resource for organizations seeking grants throughout the world. Providing access to a comprehensive online database of grantmakers, GrantStation helps nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies make smarter, better-informed grantseeking decisions. We are dedicated to creating a civil society by assisting the nonprofit sector in its quest to build healthy and effective communities.