Non-profits have been compassionate and committed service providers but inattentive institution builders, focusing most of their energies and resources externally rather than building and supporting their own capacity. Non-profit organizations often ignore the value added by superior management, usually preferring to be managed by organizational founders rather than experienced managers. They almost always neglect systems of recruitment, training and personnel advancement, generally recognized standards of quality and measurements of productivity. The relationship between programs and organizational capacity is strikingly different in the non-profit sector. The two are considered almost as competitors in a zero-sum struggle for limited resources.
Money invested in organizations is considered lost to direct service.
The challenge is not just to create solutions. The challenge is to figure out how to make those solutions affordable, sustainable, replicable, and figure out how to get them to a scale that fulfills their organization's mission. Rather than being avoided, risk is managed. Foundations avoid risk because they are not rewarded one way or the other for taking risk. Accordingly, foundations compromise the likelihood of measurable return.