Human Service Nonprofits and Government Collaboration: Findings from the 2010 National Survey of Nonprofit Government Contracting and Grants

Presents nonprofit survey results on government contracts; their share of revenue; problems, including late or partial payments, complex application and reporting processes, and changes to contract terms; how nonprofits cope with them; and the results

Construction subcontracts: for what we are about to receive

This paper is from a study on specialist and trade contracting in the construction industry. The research was commissioned by CIRIA and undertaken by the University of Reading in conjunction with Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners Ltd. The purpose of the work was to provide guidance for effective and equitable practice in the management of projects where much of the work is executed, and possibly designed, by specialist and trade contractors (STCs). As part of this study, a preliminary investigation into the nature and origins of specialist contracting was undertaken, in conjunction with a survey of the problems confronting STCs. This paper presents that phase of the project

State Budget Crises: Ripping the Safety Net Held by Nonprofits

This Special Report examines the alarming condition of state budget deficits and three resulting threats to nonprofits: (1) governments slashing funds for programs they expect nonprofits to deliver; (2) governments withholding payments from nonprofits for contracted services already delivered; and (3) governments seeking revenue from nonprofits through new fees and taxes. This Report explains how these troublingtrends impact all nonprofits -- not just those with government contracts -- and produce a ripple effect hurting communities, charities, foundations, and, paradoxically, government itself.This report concludes with a call to action, urging community leaders -- at governments, foundations, and nonprofits -- to work together to meet the enormous needs of the people they jointly serve. Policymakers have tough decisions to make, but they should make them with a deeper understanding of how certain actions are placing unreasonable burdens on nonprofits and, consequently, creating gaping new holes in the social safety net our communities desperately need right now

Costs, Complexification and Crisis: Government's Human Services Contracting System Hurts Everyone

Multiple government reports, news accounts from across the country, and now hard data from the first comprehensive nationwide survey of problems nonprofits experience through government contracts all point to one inescapable conclusion: while governments rely extensively on nonprofits to deliver human services to their most vulnerable residents, governments do so using a contracting "system" that is so woefully broken that it now jeopardizes public health and safety.The decisions to rely on nonprofits to provide services have sound policy, economic, and administrative justifications. Yet the convoluted, disjointed, and patch-worked laws and practices by which governments contract with nonprofits have led to nonpayment, underpayments, and late payments to nonprofits, in part because contracting and reporting processes have become excessively complex and irrational (through continual "complexification" as opposed to simplification).The Urban Institute's new in-depth study, Human Service Nonprofits and Government Collaboration: Findings from the 2010 National Survey of Nonprofit Government Contracting and Grants ("Urban Institute Study"), provides the results of the first national survey documenting the serious and widespread problems experienced by nonprofit human service providers under contract with governments at the local, state, and federal levels.1 Human service nonprofits include groups that provide essential needs such as food assistance, public safety, housing, child care, community and economic development, youth development, and more (but do not include other charitable nonprofits, such as arts and culture, education, or health care).This related Special Report by the National Council of Nonprofits provides additional context to the Urban Institute's findings. This Report explains how the contracting problems affect everyone in America, not just nonprofits. It also identifies specific practices that contribute to the problems being experienced, and proposes solutions that nonprofits, government officials, funders, and citizens can adopt to improve services, restore value for taxpayers, and benefit communities

Project network models with discounted cash flows. A guided tour through recent developments.

The vast majority of the project scheduling methodologies presented in the literature have been developed with the objective of minimizing the project duration subject to precedence and other constraints. In doing so, the financial aspects of project management are largely ignored. Recent efforts have taken into account discounted cash flow and have focused on the maximalization of the net present value (npv) of the project as the more appropriate objective. In this paper we offer a guided tour through the important recent developments in the expanding field of research on deterministic and stochastic project network models with discounted cash flows. Subsequent to a close examination of the rationale behind the npv objective, we offer a taxonomy of the problems studied in the literature and critically review the major contributions. Proper attention is given to npv maximization models for the unconstrained scheduling problem with known cash flows, optimal and suboptimal scheduling procedures with various types of resource constraints, and the problem of determining both the timing and amount of payments.Scheduling; Models; Model; Discounted cash flow; Cash flow; Project scheduling; Project management; Management; Net present value; Value; Problems; Maximization; Optimal;

Sub-Contractors’ readiness on the Malaysian security of payment legislation in construction industry

In Malaysia, subcontractors are definitely benefited from payment provisions in the proposed Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act (CIPA Act). However, the particularly small sized sub-contractors need to enhance knowledge of the so-called the ‘Security of Payment’ Regime to improve their awareness of the benefits of the Act. Due to this, this on-going research attempts to introduce balance and proper guidelines to the sub-contractors, in giving the knowledge, to claim for payment and the main contractors able to make prompt payments. Before that, the research may first identify the payment provisions in the standard forms of contracts as well as in domestic sub-contracts especially on Contingent Payment, and exploring the problems and legal issues relating to payment default. Then, by determining the level of knowledge that the sub-contractors have to the proposed CIPA Act, and analysing the various avenues which improve the payment problem in the construction industry those have been incorporated in the construction contract or statutes in the other developed countries as well as the proposed CIPA Act, the aim may be achieved. The purpose of this paper, though, is to disclose the finding of the first objective of the on-going research. In the standard forms of construction contracts, currently, the payment structure to the sub-contractors are divided into three: payment upon certification, direct payment from the employer, and contingent payment or conditional payment. As long as the Malaysian ‘Security of Payment’ Regime remains in proposal, the sub-contractors have to bear with the current structure of payment mechanisms.legal readiness; Malaysia; sub-contractors; security of payment; construction industry

Challenges and opportunities facing contractors in Ghana

The main aim of this study was to ascertain and discuss the current challenges and opportunities facing construction contractors in Ghana. This involved a review of the economic, legal and political environments in which contractors in Ghana operate; a review of published studies on construction in developing countries generally and Ghana specifically; and in-depth interviews and discussions with seven building and civil engineering contractors in Ghana in 2009 and 2010. Six road contractors were also interviewed. The findings indicate significant challenges relating mainly to financing for projects and a harsh business environment. However, most contractors interviewed admitted to significant problems in their own organisations. It is clear that the contracting environment in Ghana is harsh particularly for local contractors who are often not paid on time and without compensation for late payment. However, local construction firms in Ghana who want to breakthrough ought to formulate the right strategic plans, develop innovative business strategies, develop professionalism, and merge with local firms with similar organisational values and characteristics. In short, local or indigenous Ghanaian contractors ought to face up to the reality of competition and the dynamics of modern business in order to survive, grow and become major players in the construction industry in Ghana