Government Contracting Crisis
Restoring the Government-Nonprofit Partnership

Multiple government reports, news accounts from across the country, and now hard data from the first comprehensive nationwide survey of problems nonprofits experience through government contracts all point to one inescapable conclusion: while governments rely extensively on nonprofit organizations to deliver human services to their most vulnerable residents, governments do so using a contracting “system” that is so woefully broken that it now jeopardizes public health and safety.

View the video above to hear Elizabeth T. Boris, Ph.D, Director of the Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy at the Urban Institute and Tim Delaney, President and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, discuss this critical issue.

To explain why and how the contracting system must be fixed so people receive services when they need them, taxpayers receive full value for the programs they fund, and communities are strengthened through wise stewardship, the National Council of Nonprofits created this special web portal of information. This portal:

1. Describes the project, the project partners, and latest news regarding the first comprehensive national survey and related research documenting this silent, yet major, national crisis.
2. Presents the research findings, including the National Council’s Special Report and the detailed research from the Urban Institute.
3. Lists available research and other information by state.
4. Identifies how this national crisis hurts everyone in America, not just nonprofits contracting with the government.
5. Documents the serious and widespread problems so they can be seen clearly by all.
6. Proposes a variety of solutions.
7. Offers ways to get involved and invites sharing of stories and information.
8. Provides links to additional information and resources.