Foundations and corporate grant makers are not making much use of computer and Internet technologies as part of their day-to-day work, says a new report released by the Council on Foundations this month.
A survey of 771 grant makers found that many did not use such Internet-related communications methods as subscribing to an Internet discussion list (only 25.1 per cent do so), retrieving information from a Web site (48.5 per cent), and posting information to their organization’s Web site (18.7 per cent). Some 50.6 per cent of the grant makers said staff members sent and received e-mail.
When the survey was taken in December 1996, just over one-fifth of the respondents said they had a World-Wide Web site. Nearly one-half of the grant makers without a Web site said they had plans to establish one in the future.
About a third of the respondents said that a lack of training was the most significant barrier to their using electronics communications technology. Another third said they had faced no obstacles to using the technology, and one-fourth said they had no interest in expanding their electronic-communications capacity.
“Foundations are sometimes a little slow to see that there are technological innovations that can help them do what they want to do -- be a good grant maker,” said Dorothy S. Ridings, president of the Council on Foundations. “But the realization is growing.”
Among other survey findings:
For all grant makers, the top five communications methods used on a daily basis are phone (79 per cent), mail (68.5 per cent), fax (57.9 per cent), face-to-face meetings (37.6 per cent), and electronic mail (19.4 per cent).
Some 11.3 per cent of foundations used their World-Wide Web sites to distribute grant-making guidelines, while 10.3 per cent used their sites to “share information with grant seekers.” Only about 1 per cent said they accepted proposals from grant seekers via their Web sites.
The main use of e-mail was to communicate with staff members who did not work in a foundation’s headquarters -- about 21.3 per cent of respondents said they used e-mail for that purpose. That was followed by 21 per cent who used e-mail to inquire about or receive information on other organizations. Only 4.3 per cent of grant makers said they used e-mail to receive grant applications.
For a copy of the report: The “Grantmakers Technology Report” is available from the Publications Department of the Council on Foundations at (202) 467-0427. The cost is $40 for members and $65 for non-members.