Behind the Curtain at TCG

Next NGP Meeting: Monday 12/3/07

The next NGP meeting is on Monday. I can't attend (TCG's annual planning meeting odyssey starts Sunday) but that should only encourage you to go yourself! The new NGP white paper, "The Need for Federal Grants Management Standards," will be formally launched at this meeting. Agenda and Web conference info follows the jump...

OMB details spending database instructions

The inimitable Jason Miller of FCW has just detailed the latest on FFATA and FedSpending.gov. Highlights here are:

• OMB wants agencies to test their processes for submission of data to FPDS-NG and FAADS
• GSA awarded a contract to Global Computing Enterprises to build the FFATA database, as they bid $0!
• OMB has laid out specific steps that agencies must take to ensure that delivery of each kind of assistance data is completed correctly
• Data will continue to be reported to FPDS-NG, too, but submissions to that and FFATA will be combined at some point in the future
• Agencies will be allowed to review all data that will be publicly released prior to its release

Grant Application, Rejected as 46 Minutes Late, May Cost Some Students

Oh dear. The exact reasons why the application were late are not stated in this article but I think two of the comments have it spot-on:

This is why my institution requires all electronically-submitted federal grants to be completed 7 business days prior to the federally-posted deadline. Screw-ups always happen at the last minute. — Jason Rasgon, Nov 2, 03:16 PM

There is so much information out there that warns submitters about the inherent problems with Grants.gov. Applicants should know better than to wait until the last minute. I would be outraged if federal agencies made exceptions to the deadlines! — Lynn Rollins, Nov 2, 03:43 PM

Reminder: Excellence.Gov Awards nominations due November 16th

I'm co-chairing the 2008 Excellence.Gov Awards, with Andy Lieber of Grant Thornton, and last Friday we extended the nomination deadline to Friday November 16. So get your nominations in, at www.actgov.org/excellencegovawards. For all the info you need, click to continue reading.

Does grant-making need an overhaul?

The Atlantic magazine's cover story last month was about the Clinton Foundation's efforts to revitalize philanthropy [subscription required to read the full article] by bootstrapping and harnessing market forces for social projects, such as improving the HIV/AIDS drug supply to Third World countries and accelerating adoption of ecologically-friendly fuels and engineering. Here are some key quotes about how this relates to grant-making:

"The modern era’s predominant model for philanthropy, the grant-making foundation, is a century old... [T]he world has changed more than foundations have. In recent years, new generations have come to see the traditional approach as hidebound... 'There is an urge for something other than the standard model of the grant-making foundation that dutifully delivers funds to nonprofit organizations that dutifully deliver the services,' [said Peter Frumkin, the author of the recent book Strategic Giving: The Art and Science of Philanthropy].

Among the most promising of the newer models is something that has come to be known as 'social entrepreneurship.' As the label implies, it uses entrepreneurial methods and market mechanisms to solve social problems."

This got me thinking about three things. First, how can government play a more prominent role in supporting and facilitating social entrepreneurship? Second, is there a better model that grant-making for the kinds of objectives that citizens have for government? And, third, should some of the resources currently devoted to grant-making be diverted to, instead, the engineering of more optimal market conditions through which competitive private entities can meet social goals?

What do you all think? Anonymous comments are welcome -- click on the 'Comments' link below to post them!