Modern program administration in 2026 is about delivering public and nonprofit programs that are faster to launch, easier to access, compliant by design, and transparent in outcomes—despite tighter budgets and rising accountability demands.

The most common operational bottlenecks nonprofits face include manual intake, fragmented data, slow eligibility reviews, reporting fire drills, and staff burnout. These issues can be addressed through clearer workflows, centralized systems, automation of routine tasks, and better use of data to support decision-making and accountability.

The City of Long Beach, CA partnered with FORWARD to design and administer a streamlined First-Time Homebuyer Program that helped 76 low- and moderate-income households purchase their first home.