Public–Nonprofit Collaboration in Homeless Services: Are Nonprofit-Led Networks More Effective in Winning Federal Funding?

Abstract

Does nonprofit leadership have an impact on the performance of collaborative networks? This article examines the degree to which nonprofit-led networks and other governance characteristics matter in explaining the performance of network achieving federal funding. Specifically, we hypothesize that networks led by nonprofit organizations may achieve more funding and project awards than those led by government organizations. Using data from a national survey of local homeless service networks, we find that contrary to the hypothesized expectations, networks led by nonprofits are less successful in federal funding and project award than networks led by government organizations.