Paying for Pampered Poodles
Is it true that our tax laws that allow individuals to donate tax free, as much of their assets as they wish to charitable causes is really another gift to the rich paid for on the backs of the rest of us? Ray Madoff, Boston College Law School Professor, would have us so believe. And her point is one that should give us all pause. Noting Leona Helmsley’s bequest of $8 million for the care of dogs, she questions the acts of other similarly wealthy individuals, Read more
July 18th, 2008 0 Comment The Power of Numbers. Or Not.
I believe in the power of statistics. But I also believe that statistics can be manipulated. They can be manipulated by the method of their collection and by the method of their presentation. And while both bother me tremendously, it is the latter that worries me the most, as the naïve reader/listener may be easily duped. And once duped, bad decisions may follow.Take, for example, the following. Ted Hart has been tracking online giving since 2001, when a mere $550 million dollars was given Read more
July 11th, 2008 1 Comment Zero Sum Game
Two new data points give with one piece of news and take away with the other.
According to Giving USA 2008, the news appears all glowing. In 2007, over $306 billion was given to charities by foundations, corporations and individuals, an increase of 3.9%. And, good news or better news, depending upon how your organization’s planned giving skills are, bequest giving rose 6.9%, after what is referred to as a “steep decline” in 2006. The conclusion Read more
July 7th, 2008 0 Comment The Truth about Founders
What about founders? Do they help or hurt? That was a student’s recent version of a question I get asked a lot, in many different setting? Loaded question or what!
The truth is that founders who know how to be good founders are a true asset, not just to the organization which they establish, but to the community which they serve. Unfortunately, however, the flip side of that is equally true: founders who do not know how to be good founders are worse than not being asset; they Read more
June 27th, 2008 1 Comment Broken Windows
In criminology, there is a theory called “broken windows” used to explain how neighborhoods decline and become riddled with crime. Simply put, it goes like this: when the first evidence of “petty” crimes—vandalism, graffiti, loitering—goes unchecked and uncorrected, that is a signal to others that the neighborhood does not care. It is a welcome sign for more serious criminal activity. The first broken window that goes unrepaired, the initial graffiti that is not instantly removed, invites other, more serious crime Read more
June 23rd, 2008 0 Comment Ah, Symbiosis
“Are you biased?” asked the MBA student the first night of our Nonprofit Management class offered as an elective in La Salle University’s School of Business MBA program. Good question!
The basis of our question: Do I think nonprofits are better than for-profits? Do I prefer nonprofits to for-profits? Let’s not equate enthusiasm with bias. My mindset isn’t one of opposition, competition and tension, but one of symbiosis.
How often do you read somewhere in the literature of nonprofits that part of the Read more
June 2nd, 2008 1 Comment The Most Money for the Least Amount of Work
Recently, I’ve been brain kneading (the visual I have as my brain works over an issue—the repetitive process of kneading bread, bringing it up to fold it over only to push it down and turn the dough a quarter to go through the same motion, over and over until the dough is ready) this whole issue of compensation in the nonprofit sector, piqued (or was it peeved) by the recent report saying that younger employees are looking to nonprofits for the same kinds of benefits Read more
May 9th, 2008 0 Comment IRS Form 990 Regulations – Compliance Schmompliance
Earlier this week, we hosted our first session explaining the new IRS Form 990 to nonprofits. Have you ever seen a group of deer in headlights?
Not a pretty sight. Nor is it going to be a pretty sight to get your board ready to answer all of its pages of questions with the “right” answer, and answered honestly. After all, it is one thing to answer a question “yes” with a yes that means, “Yes, we have a policy. We think we know where it is.” Read more
May 2nd, 2008 2 Comments Exceeding Expectations – It’s Not Such a Small World
In the short life of this blog, I have hit often on the message that nonprofits must be more business-like in their operations. And though as I write or think that phrase I generally am referring to finances, human resources, and overall management, I also include customer service. And just as many businesses could take a page or 10 from Disney’s and Nordstrom’s customer service books, so could many nonprofits, particularly those larger ones.
Two diametrically opposite experiences last week have me going on Read more
April 25th, 2008 0 Comment Chicken Little was wrong
To most, if not all, in the nonprofit sector, September 11th was doubly devastating.There was the sense of horror, loss and disbelief that everyone in this country suffered.And later there was the fear for the health and well-being of their own nonprofits. Would it survive? Would donors be willing to give to 9/11 efforts as well as the organizations they had given to before? Would they, depending upon their mission, be able to handle the increase in demand for services as people tried to Read more
April 18th, 2008 0 Comment 