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NAVCA objects to use of term "grant dependence"
14 September 2009
The Chief Executive of NAVCA, Kevin Curley, has written a paper objecting to the Adventure Capital Fund's use of the term "grant dependence".
The Adventure Capital Fund, in its recent guidance on the Communitybuilders Fund, refers to ‘grant dependence’ and says ‘organisations need to move away from grant dependence’. NAVCA thinks that this language and the thinking which underlies it is damaging to the interests of the local voluntary and community sector.
He states that grant funding is a legitimate way for funders to achieve their desired outcomes, have relatively low transaction costs and can represent excellent value for money. He also points out that grant funding can be an important part of an organisation's diversified funding base.
"Grant funding plays a vital role in supporting local voluntary and community action and preserves the independence of the sector by maintaining the freedom and capacity of voluntary and community organisations to influence their own destinies and pursue their own missions and charitable objectives. In contrast, the experience of our members is that an over-reliance on contractual arrangements can result in voluntary and community organisations simply becoming agents for the delivery of closely specified state services, based on payment by results, where risks are inappropriately transferred onto providers. It may therefore be more apt for the Adventure Capital Fund to warn against “contractual dependence”, rather than “grant dependence”.
Click here to download the full paper.
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