Grantmakers Information Technology Survey Report 

III. Snapshots by Foundation Size  

A. Very Large Foundations Snapshot ($250 million or more) 

There were 55 respondents with assets of $250 million or more in this snapshot (Table 

A 1).  

Most very large foundations have in house technical support, with 75 percent reporting 

they had part time or full time in house technical staff. For the remaining 25 percent of 

foundations without in house technical staff, the responsibility for technology is found 

primarily with the finance/administrative staff (Table A 2).  

Person Responsible for IT (n = 55) * 

1   In house technical staff (full  or part time) 

2   Finance/administrative staff 

4   Consultants 

6   Other 

* n = number of respondents 

Regardless of asset size, the primary role and responsibility of the information 

technology director is network administration: 90 percent at very large foundations and 

89 percent at small foundations. Many very large grantmakers indicated that the role of 

technology staff in their organization included responsibility for telephone systems 

(65%), participating in organizational strategic planning (79%), researching new 

technologies (88%) and sharing information with IT staff in other organizations (46%). In 

about 25 percent of very large foundations, IT staff is also responsible for providing 

assistance and advice to grantees, recommending solutions to grantees and reviewing 

technology grant applications.  

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