An empirical analysis of grant-monitoring systems in corporate foundations: Organizational complexity and monitoring mechanisms around the world

Abstract

The present research studies the grant-monitoring process in corporate foundations. This process represents a crucial activity because it influences both the effectiveness of grant implementation and the corporate foundation’s reputation. Despite this, specific literature is rare, especially regarding the antecedents of corporate foundations’ efforts in grant monitoring, project complexity, and corporate foundations. This paper is aimed at filling the literature gap by assessing the relationship between the (organizational) complexity of the financed project and the monitoring mechanisms put in place by corporate foundations around the world. The study surveyed 280 projects granted by corporate foundations in the USA and Italy during 2014-2017. The sample included public information on monitoring activities of grantees for ten foundations—four based in Italy and six in the United States. For each corporate foundation (CF), I conducted a specific analysis of websites to collect all public information on monitoring activities published by these foundations (i.e. newsletters, policies and procedures, reports of projects), developing a database of communicational units. Data were analyzed using a hierarchical linear regression analysis, starting from a base model and analyzing the differences in adjusted R-squared. This study reveals that, in corporate foundations, the intensity of grant monitoring depends on project complexity. In particular, in Italy, monitoring depends on the number of involved institutions and, in the USA, on both the number of involved institutions and the number of locations of the project. Further ideas for research about corporate foundations are offered.