The Role of Nonprofit Contractors in the Delivery of Local Services
Source: The Aspen Institute, Nonprofit Research Fund, 2007
When nonprofits contract with local governments, the nonprofits may experience challenges,but they may also gain prestige and funding for programs. Since nonprofits may findthat they are distracted from their mission by management challenges and the demands of regulation and oversight, they should carefully weigh both the benefits and the costs of being government contractors.
These are the conclusions of researchers Richard C. Feiock and HeeSoun Jang in their recent report,“The Role of Nonprofit Contractors in the Delivery of Local Services,” funded by the Nonprofit Sector Research Fund.Through a groundbreaking survey of nonprofits in twelve metropolitan areas, the researchers examine the types of nonprofit organizations that engage in contracts and describe the costs and challenges they encounter when they produce services for governments. They also studied existing surveys of local governments in order to learn more about how governments choose the contractors they do business with, and the challenges they face in terms of the cost of managing these external contracts.