October 16, 2003 | Read Time: 1 minute
Large foundations are more likely to employ technology specialists and devote a higher percentage of their budgets to technology than their smaller counterparts, according to a new report.
The study was based on data from 315 foundations and was conducted jointly by the Technology Affinity Group and the Council on Foundations.
Forty-nine of 55 foundations with assets of $250-million or more said they have in-house technical support. Twenty-six of 78 foundations with assets of $50-million to $249.9-million had their own technology employees, while 15 of 84 foundations with assets of $10-million to $49.9-million did so. Fifteen of 76 foundations with assets of less than $10-million had in-house technical support.
Of the 113 foundations that employ technology workers, 73 had one employee, either part-time or full-time, and 40 had two or more technology employees.
Twenty-eight of the 39 respondents from foundations with assets of $250-million or more said they spent 3 percent or more of their nonprogram budget on technology. But just 23 of 69 foundations with assets of $50-million to $249.9-million spent that much.
Forty-four of 311 foundations said that they have a process for accepting grant applications online.
Of those, 29 use systems that were designed specifically for them, while 15 use commercial software.
In December 1996, the last time that the Council on Foundations surveyed grant makers’ use of technology, only 52 percent of respondents reported using e-mail, and only 20 percent said that their funds had a Web site. In this survey, 98 percent of grant makers said that they used e-mail, and 91 percent of their foundations have a Web site.
The report is available free online at http://www.tagtech.org.
