Making people and ideas findable
Are there too many Non Profit Organizations?
This opinion piece was excerpted from Fast Company -
...Mr. Eisenberg is absolutely right when he says "Much of current philanthropic giving, by foundations and individuals, neither meets the needs of our charitable organizations nor addresses some of our most urgent public needs." But his analysis of the challenges facing the nonprofit and charitable community and his suggestions for how to fix the system didn't go far enough.
if we are going to have a vibrant, sustainable, and (most importantly) impactful philanthropic community, the very nature, focus, and function of nonprofits and charities needs to change. The space has lost its way. To get back on track we need a total reset.
1) There are too many nonprofit organizations. There are more than a million registered nonprofit organizations in the United States, and tens of thousands of new nonprofits are created every year.
2) Service the Cause, Not Solving It. In my experience, most nonprofits and charities focus their energy on growing and sustaining their organizations and not so much on improving the way they do business or deliver their services
3) Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better. The Internet has empowered audiences in new and powerful ways. Technology gives each of us direct control over our information and the choices about how we spend our time and focus our energy. And we can use these tools to help organizations and address causes in ways that go well beyond donating. As a result, we simply don't believe--and probably for good reasons--that the institutions that once offered the guidance, support, and direction for how to address the issues facing our society know best. We can do it on our own, we don't need them.
Dumping more money into a bad system won't fix anything. Making some operational changes won't alter the DNA of the nonprofit and charitable space. We need to address the core identity of the nonprofit and charitable community issues first. Only then, with a total reset of how these groups operate, will we figure everything else out. Read the rest on Fast Company
Are there too many Non Profit Organizations? Share your thoughts here
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by PK Koduri on -
Here is another article about the aid to Africa (via Kristian Anderson Blog): Do starving Africans a favour. Don’t feed them
My wife just got back from Kenya where she spent a week with the World Food Program. We haven't a chance to talk about it but I am looking forward to here analysis of the effectiveness of WFP activities there.
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Permalink Reply by matthew w. wilson on -
Nice post and good points made there.
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Permalink Reply by Marita Topmiller on -
PK, thanks for the article. It was enlightening. Sounds as though we should "sit on your hands" and
wait till the people rise up and oust the leaders that are stealing their nation's wealth and ability to
create the necessary infrastructure.
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Permalink Reply by PK Koduri on
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I don't think the article is suggesting that we sit on our hands. Only that we hold people receiving aid accountable and focus on teaching the man, as someone said, how to fish.
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Permalink Reply by Marita Topmiller on
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All things placed into the hands of people who are carrying out the work of teaching, digging wells,
etc.
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Permalink Reply by matthew w. wilson on
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Too many 'non profit organizations' are actually not non-profit.
And too many have their hands in religion and politics...yuck.
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Permalink Reply by matthew w. wilson on
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Churches should not be able to make political contributions without loosing their tax-exempt status.
...that is my response to that.
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Permalink Reply by Steve Stuck on -
Shouldn't that be a rule for all non for profits?
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Permalink Reply by matthew w. wilson on
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No. Just churches...
haha, nahhh.
It makes sense. Both i suppose.
Meaning, I would give up one to ensure the other.
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Permalink Reply by Marita Topmiller on
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@ Matthew and Steve: I agree. NPOs and churches should not be able to make political
contributions. No way.
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Permalink Reply by Michael J Dukehart, II on -
I feel bad for saying it, but yes..(Rant Shields Up Now)...I feel there are too many NPOs and that too many NPOs are focusing on more things or other things than what their names suggests. i feel that one can tell that there are too many NPOs because it does not seem a summer weekend can go by in the city without someone having a walk for something. It almost seems like it would be in everyones best interest to just hold one rally big walk and have people be able to give to whatever organizations they want to who are participating.
Plus it seems like everyone who has a problem wants an organization for the problem. Do we really need the FBGOTFACFB (Fat Bald Guys Organization to Find a Cure for Baldness ) and the SBGOTFACFB (Skinny Bald Guys Organization to Find a Cure for Baldness)...what is to stop the SFBGOTFACFB (Short Fat Bald Guys Organization to Fina a Cure for Baldness) from forming. Put the money to the overal issue and just do the research. how many different cancer research teams are doing the exact same research right now and don't kinow it because they are all working for a different organization.
That's my opinion and I am sticking to it darn it.
(Rant Shields May Be Turned Off)
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1. Please use your real name (first and last) when you sign up, or we cannot open your account
2. Please do not use logos or commercial images for your profile photo
3. Events should be posted in the events calendar
4. You can post pretty much anything you want on your own personal page (self promotion, etc), and you can change the style of your personal profile page to reflect your corporate identification if you so choose.
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