Challenges, Choices and Common Applications: Funders' Exercise of Power and Its Consequences for Nonprofits' Administrative Burden

ABSTRACT The burdens faced by nonprofits applying for foundational support are increasingly acknowledged by practitioners, funders and other sectoral bodies. Attempts have been made to reduce these demands through common applications, structured sets of questions allowing simultaneous access to multiple funders. A recent case study of one such form reveals how the consequences of its attempts to redress inequality through reducing nonprofits' administrative burden are shaped by the choices of both the taskforce and funders, and thus by their underlying organizational values and external pressures. These findings are theorized through an analytical model which (i) demonstrates the centrality of funder and taskforce choices for nonprofit consequences; (ii) reveals the corresponding inescapable power hierarchy within the application process; and (iii) translates the concept of organizational compassionate bureaucracy from the individual to the collective level. Funders are encouraged to respond with such compassion, supported by taskforces, academics and policy‐makers.