After a week of extreme illness, I'm back, and refreshed, and ready to give thought on funding for nonprofit organizations.
Chapter 10 deals specifically with funders. It talks about how private funders have been investigated by Congress four times for conspiracies, by both sides of the political spectrum. I find this surprising because the book also says that funders provide only three percent of the revenue toward nonprofit nations.
I really liked the by Ben Gose about President Obama limiting the amount of tax breaks given to wealthy charity donors. It's kind of a catch-22: on one hand, limiting tax incentives for the wealthy to give to charity may decentivize them from giving in the first place; on the other hand, not giving them tax breaks may help decrease the national deficit and prevent corrupt practices in nonprofit organizations. I just don't know enough to fully explain myself here.
Seanerd-Stockton's article regarding donors and the economic crisis also brings up more interesting thoughts about this issue. He brings up that even though there was a huge economic recession in recent years, this didn't stop Americans from donating money towards nonprofit organizations. He made a very valid point about how increasing the national wealth does not necessarily increase the standards of living for all citizens in the country. Therefore, philanthropies must fill in the gaps that are left behind.
Finally, the article by Alex Goldmark about measuring the impact of a philanthropy was probably my favorite, because it shows that more and more people are caring about the impact of a nonprofit, not the amount of money they can bring in. He states that research shows that offering free screening for HIV testing was not enough of a good thing to make people get tested more. Another organization highlighted was Proximity Designs in Myanmar, which was known for its $25 irrigation pump; the impact was tremendous there, and the organization's slogan was "treat the poor as customers." Goldmark argues quite correctly that by measuring the scale of philanthropies, we can define which ones are successful with the money they have, and if they deserve more. If they don't have a scale, they should be gotten rid of.
This link shows more about Proximity Designs and all of the many things they have been able to accomplish for the developing nation of Myanmar with a small amount of money. We need more organizations like this, that can stretch the already scarce dollar further and make it have more of an impact on society.
