As a longtime advocate for multiyear general operating support (GOS), reading CEP’s recent report, New Attitudes, Old Practices: The Provision of Multiyear General Operating Support, was a sobering and frustrating experience.

I’ve seen firsthand how nonprofits and their leaders and staff benefit from multiyear GOS, and my experience aligns with the report’s finding that “most nonprofit leaders say there are no challenges or downsides to receiving multiyear GOS grants, besides the fact that they end.” Indeed, these takeaways shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who has been paying attention.

What continues to surprise and frustrate me is the glaring gap between words and deeds on the part of foundation CEOs.  While CEOs believe multiyear GOS is an effective way to support nonprofits — and the majority favor increasing this kind of support — most leaders don’t provide it, or only provide a small amount.

Furthermore, they don’t cite any common reasons or barriers for not aligning their attitudes and practices. Based on the data collected, the report’s authors were left to conclude that, ultimately, it boils down to a perceived belief among foundation leaders that multiyear GOS just “doesn’t fit” with their organization’s approach.

In my view, I see two fundamental reasons for why foundations are so resistant to this change. And I’d like to offer one way we can overcome that resistance.

First, I agree with the assessment of many nonprofit leaders surveyed for this report who said that foundations’ need to hold onto power and control are fundamentally at play here.

Second, I think that many foundations are set up to maintain a defensive posture that keeps nonprofits at arm’s length, which in turn makes it easier to say no and avoid messy “break-up” scenes or uncomfortable conversations, or to turn on a dime without worrying about what they’re leaving behind.

I am continually asking myself and my peers how we can invite more individual and organizational self-reflection, as well as how we can demonstrate the importance of being intentional about matching our values with our practices.

One step we can all take is to continually check our own assumptions about who within foundations is doing what and why.

Read the full article about closing the gap between words and deeds by John Esterle at The Center for Effective Philanthropy.