Mechanism for Funding Grants-to-Individuals
Provide support through a host institution:
- Host institutions may benefit as well: colleges get the students they admit, nonprofits get their leaders back rejuvenated by a sabbatical, research centers get the reflected prestige of prize winners, and fiscal sponsors fulfill their missions and get the administrative fee they charge. If host organizations benefit, then the field benefits, and this may further fulfill the program’s purpose.
Outsource responsibilities to another organization:
- Providing funds to a regranting organization is for IRS purposes and an organizational grant. If, however, a foundation retains authority over any aspect of the program then it still counts as a grants-to-individuals program, and all the relevant IRS regulations apply.
- Examples: supporting controversial work and the potential for media exposure; using an intermediary may also be more efficient.
Bring the person into the foundation as an employee or consultant:
- Example: A funder that supports science research and education hires professors away from their home institutions for a limited time, during which they work on the organization’s campus, teach, and conduct research.
*Whatever the mechanisms, it’s important to remember, one foundation attorney cautioned, that the funder is always ultimately responsible for meeting IRS obligations.
Takeaways are critical, bite-sized resources either excerpted from our guides or written by Candid Learning for Funders using the guide's research data or themes post-publication. Attribution is given if the takeaway is a quotation.
This takeaway was derived from Grants to Individuals.
