Making the Case: Foundation Leaders on the Importance of Multiyear General Operating Support

This companion piece to New Attitudes, Old Practices: The Provision of Multiyear General Operating Support features profiles of five of the 43 foundations that participated in interviews with CEP for that research: the California Wellness Foundation, the Claneil Foundation, Foundation for a Just Society, the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

These five foundations — which represent a range of geographies, size, and foundation type — all provide more multiyear general operating support (GOS) than typical, have significantly increased the proportion of grantees receiving multiyear GOS over time, or both, as identified using data from the more than 300 foundations that have used CEP’s Grantee Perception Report (GPR).

In these five profiles, foundation leaders share, in their own words, why they provide multiyear GOS, how considerations of equity fit into their decision-making about which grantees receive this support, any advice they would share with their peer foundations, and more. CEP’s goal is for these profiles to provide examples for foundations that are thinking about starting to provide or increasing their provision of multiyear GOS.