Grantmakers Information Technology Survey Report 

II.

Results Summary 

percent (Table A 5). Only 21 percent of grantmakers spend 5 percent or more of their 

non program budget on technology annually.  

Technology Planning 

Technology planning and having the in house capacity for technology planning appears 

to be an issue for many foundations. Most foundations do not have a technology plan, 

with only 21 percent of foundations (64 of 306) reporting that they have a written 

technology plan that is up to date (Table A 4). Similarly, more than 50 percent of 

foundations have never had a technology audit (152 of 301) and 29 percent (43 of 149) of 

those reporting having audits responded to having annual audits; most have no set 

schedule (51%, or 76 of 149). 

Most grantmakers lack the in house capability to do technology planning. When asked 

what services grantmakers would like to receive from the Council or TAG, the number 

one response was  examples of how foundations use technology/technology best 

practices document,  indicating that foundations want to learn from other foundation's 

successes.  

Electronic Communications 

Until now, the only other survey of grantmaker use of information technology was 

conducted by the Council on Foundations in December 1996. Foundations have improved 

their use of technology dramatically since then, particularly around the use of electronic 

communications. In December 1996, only 52 percent of grantmakers reported using 

e mail and only 20 percent of foundations had a website. In order to understand the 

attitudes of grantmakers toward expanding their electronic communications capacity, the 

1996 respondents were asked whether they considered expanding their capacity in this 

area to be: 

A top priority 

Something to do as soon as funds/resources became available 

Under consideration 

Not currently of interest. 

Three out of four respondents (76%) had a definite or possible interest in expanding their 

electronic communications capacity. More than one third (36%) had expansion under 

consideration, another 21 percent were going to expand when funds and resources 

became available, and 19 percent considered expansion a top priority.  

Today, 98 percent of grantmakers reported using e mail and 91 percent of foundations 

had a website. Clearly, foundations have made great progress regarding electronic 

communications technology.  

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