Each summer, The Presser Foundation staff look closely at the previous years’ applications and reports, asking themselves one key question: What’s truly essential? Our goal is to keep only the questions that inform grant decisions so that applicants can spend less time completing paperwork and more time performing music, presenting music, and educating music students of all ages.
Across philanthropy, organizations are rethinking their reporting requirements (see this example from New York). Grant reporting is not legally required unless a foundation is accounting for expenditure responsibility. While reports can be helpful in assessing a grant or understanding an organization’s efforts during a year, they are not an obligation.
With this in mind, the Foundation introduced oral reporting for general operating support grantees in Advancement of Music and Special Projects several years ago. After learning more about oral reporting and assessing our staff capacity, we initiated a pilot year to see if grantees were interested in oral reporting. Staff offered grantees the option to complete a 30-minute oral report via a recorded Zoom conversation, where a grantee would answer the same questions as the written report and provide any supplemental documentation after the call. Staff takes notes, crafts a cohesive summary of the call, and sends it to the grantee for review. Once edited and approved, staff saves the report on the grants management system in place of a grantee written report.
Staff shared the opportunity via both direct outreach and on social media platforms. For the three years that the Foundation offered oral reporting, approximately 10 grantees per year participated (approximately 10% of the total number of grantees at that time). Those who participated shared that they appreciated the chance to answer the report questions “live.” Those who didn’t participate noted that they liked being able to flush out their own thinking via written reporting. As staff, we ensured that each grantee understood they were welcome to choose whichever option worked the best for them (with no effect on the grant decision).
For the 2025-26 year, staff again sat down to determine reporting options. Understanding our grantee relationships helps explain the next evolution in our approach. Many of these organizations are longstanding grantees of the Foundation. We know their mission and their programs well, and we see their efforts shared not only in their yearly application, but on their social media and other communications channels. For those long-term grantees who consistently reapply for funding each year, the application and report can contain repetitive information.
In addition, conversations with grantee organizations revealed increasing pressures facing nonprofits, including cuts to NEA funding, limits to capacity, and growing staff retention challenges. Staff sought ways to alleviate these burdens and enable grantees to dedicate more time to their core missions.
With these understandings, the Foundation decided to take a significant step. Amidst a large strategic planning and research effort where we have asked for grantee thoughts and feedback throughout, we decided to eliminate 2024-25 reporting for Advancement of Music and Special Projects general operating support grantees* who planned to reapply for a grant this year. Instead, we embedded two optional questions at the end of the 2025-26 application to ask how an organization’s year went and to upload any photos or videos.
Response to the shift this year has been overwhelmingly positive. “That is great news and certainly makes things more streamlined.” “My colleague and I were pleasantly surprised today when we completed the Presser grant application in one hour. Login worked well, uploads were smooth, and the online application was easy to complete. Thank you for the simple application and your long history of philanthropy.” “We are grateful for this change in the midst of very full program details with a small staff.”
While we don’t know whether reporting will be eliminated again, the Foundation is committed to ensuring an accessible reporting process. As we continue to learn from our grantees and adapt our practices, we welcome ongoing feedback about what works well and what could be improved. Our goal remains the same: to support the incredible music-making happening across our region while honoring the time and capacity of the organizations doing this vital work.
*Special Projects project grants and Capital Support grants continue to have reporting requirements, as they are reporting on a specific project and not on an organization’s overall work.