FBO proponents rail, often legitimately, against distant government bureaucrats who dictate how money is spent and programs are constructed. Give us the resources and we'll do it better, they say. But there is an uncomfortable self-righteousness to some of those claims. Let's just be careful not to replace one rigid perspective with another. Bureaucrats and preachers have to speak a language of respect and openness if a true partnership is to be maintained.
More rigorous research is needed to analyze why faith communities appear to make such a difference.
This can't be done by seminaries, whose faculties may have a vested interest, but rather by independent academicians. Others in the academy need to drop their resistance toward examining institutionalized religion. Many churches and other FBOs don't even know about the opportunity to bid, or if they do, aren't prepared for the administrative demands. Churches need to work together to create the infrastructure to draft budgets, write grants, etc. Finally, and this is just my own bias speaking, this cause needs to embrace women more energetically.