Twenty-six of our grants
(about 20%) were for general support of
organizations with a total value of $216,400;
81 were for project support with a value of
$653,325; and 12 were classified as both
general support and project grants with a
value of $93,950. This last group
consists of small organizations with a single
project, which makes it impossible to
distinguish between general support and
project grants. The percentage of
general support grants has grown from about
10% in 1995 to almost 25% in 1996 and 1997.
Significant tension exists between
grant-seekers and grant-makers around this
issue. Grant-seekers need the
flexibility to keep their organization going
and do their identified work.
Grant-makers want to have measurable
accountability, understanding of just where
their money is going, and control over the
specific directions of their support.
The NW Fund recognizes that to some extent
this becomes a grant writing "art"
in which the organization presents a portion
of its current activities in the colors of a
project to meet the NW Fund's guidelines.
