Every Oregonian benefits from nonprofit organizations. They play a substantial role is keeping Oregon communities vibrant and healthy, create and magnify public benefits, catalyze opportunities to participate in civic affairs, and enrich cultural life. Nonprofits provide essential services, often in tandem or through programs supported by public funding. The process of implementing programs funded by public dollars needs to be seamless and sustainable for nonprofits in order to most effectively serve our communities.
The Nonprofit Association of Oregon (NAO) released the “Services, Systems and Solutions: A Study of the Government and Nonprofit Contracting in Oregon.”
NAO set out to determine if current public sector contracting systems and practices are in alignment with the policy intent and whether they are conducive to successful partnerships. Based on responses from nonprofits spanning human service, health, housing and homelessness, education and other sectors, the report results are quite revealing on the challenges in procurement, reporting and implementation in government contracted programs and services.
It is clear from the data and responses that it is difficult for many nonprofits to successfully carry out government contracts and grants. Some respondents challenged both government and nonprofit organizations to not just say they will do better, but to commit to making tangible and actionable changes to better serve our communities.