The project teams identified a number of challenges to their efforts that can be attributed to the nature of the not-for-profit, soft-money environment in which they work. Scarcity of resources, lack of operational funding, and delayed delivery of grant dollars were three of the challenges considered by the project teams to present the most significant challenges.

Securing ongoing funding to create and then support the technical and organizational infrastructure necessary for innovative and effective programs and services was almost a deal breaker. These resources, when they are available, often come with conditions for use including when and how they can be used. While these conditions are generally well-known among not-for-profit practitioners they often constrain the efforts of newcomers to technology innovation who cannot predict the full range of conditions or expenses they might face in their projects.

Funding organizations have traditionally funded the creation of new resources and programs while relying on the funded organization to secure support for ongoing operations. The catch-22 of this approach is that it creates competing priorities for project teams. The need to divide efforts between working on the project itself and finding more money to sustain the project over time was regularly noted by the teams as an obstacle to progress. This was especially challenging for the smaller organizations or teams where the team leader was also the grant manager. Since funding for ongoing operation of the new programs was not provided, many of the organizations involved had to focus both on creative ways to find monies for operations and creative designs to minimize ongoing operational expenses. These pressures reduced the time available to work on the project itself.

In addition, a number of the teams did not have ready access to the grant funds until well after the official project start date. The project participants considered this as one of the most significant barriers to their efforts.