Designing a More Inclusive Government Grantmaking Process: Perspectives from Nonprofit Leaders in Minnesota. with Yuan (Daniel) Cheng; Weston Merrick; Patrick Carter; Kari Aanestad.

Abstract

Each year, the state of Minnesota administers hundreds of millions of dollars in the nonprofit sector via government grant programs. While nonprofits play important roles in ensuring the effective implementation of these programs and amplifying the voices of community members, they face significant barriers in the government grantmaking process. These barriers are especially challenging for small, rural, and BIPOC-serving nonprofits. Leveraging a research-practice partnership and a survey of 327 nonprofit leaders in Minnesota (78% of our nonprofit respondents have applied for or received a state government grant at least once in the past 5 years), we provide the answers to the following two questions: (1) What key barriers are nonprofits experiencing in the government grant-making process? (2) What elements of the government grant request for proposals (RFPs) impact nonprofits’ intention to apply for such programs?

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