January 26, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
The rate at which foundations are adopting new technology has slowed in recent years, according to a survey of 336 grant makers conducted by the Technology Affinity Group and the Council on Foundations. The survey’s author attributes the change to the “sluggish” economy, which caused the endowments of some grant makers to shrink in the early part of the decade.
The survey did find some progress. Seventy-five percent of foundations participating in the survey reported that they had improved their Web sites, and 56 percent said they had dealt with technology-security issues. But only 22 percent of respondents said they accept grant applications online. Half said that cost was a major barrier to taking advantage of new technology.
The survey, which took place in July, was a follow-up to a similar survey conducted in 2003. In 2005, 47 percent of respondents said they were either “lagging behind” or “in trouble” when it came to adopting new technology. Two years earlier, only 25 percent of respondents expressed such concerns.
To get a copy of the report: Go to http://www.tagtech.org.
