Chair: Yvonne Harrison, Luther College at the University of Regina

Too Close for Comfort, Relatively Speaking? Development NGOs’ Dependence on Home Government Funding in Comparative Perspective
Lauchlan T. Munro, University of Ottawa

For years, many Canadian non-governmental organisations working on international development have received half or more of their revenue from the Government of Canada. This dependence on a single funding source raises important issues about the independence, governance and accountability of these NGOs, and about public policy. And while this dependence has been well documented for over 30 years, little attention has been paid to how Canadian NGOs compare in this respect to their counterparts in other donor countries. This paper compares Canadian NGOs with similar NGOs in Australia, Ireland, UK and USA. Implications for public policy are explored.

Government Policies affecting organizations employing individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Ushnish Sengupta, University of Toronto

This presentation describes updated and recent research on the impact of changing government policies in the province of Ontario on organizations employing individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD). Changes in government policy have an acute effect on individuals with IDD, their families, and related social enterprises. Government policy changes affect individuals with IDD through the services and funding available, affecting equity of opportunity and quality of life. At the same time, there is a lack of strong evidence and related data providing evaluative knowledge of policy outcomes, particularly for social enterprises employing individuals with IDD.

Values-Based Funding: A Local Government – Nonprofit Typology
Alicia M. Schatteman, Northern Illinois University

Nonprofits turn to government funding for a variety of reasons. At the local level, certain programs are created to support local nonprofit organizations, particularly in the area of health and human services. Local governments then must wrestle with how they demonstrate accountability to the taxpayer for those public dollars being given to nonprofits. By analyzing these funding models, we can see what is gained and what is lost in shifting funding from one model to another. The funding models are mapped to the public administration values of efficiency, effectiveness, economy, and equity.