Are there too many Non Profit Organizations?

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Permalink Reply by Marita Topmiller on November 13, 2009 at 2:22pm

LOL, Michael !!

Love your illustration about the SBG's, FBG's and SFBG's ! I bow to your FLO (funny logic)!

I'm sure there must be overlapping agencies/groups that would do better to unite, throw together
resources for a cause. OK. But .... you knew this was coming:

Some groups need to be local (I think): food pantries for example.

Timing is everything: I have time and money for the MS walk in March, none for the Diabetes walk
in May. I give as a percentage of my paycheck. Don't make me hang onto it till I have enough for a
new washer, or that may be where the money goes. (I don't need a new washer. It's just that they're
so nice, I can't help myself.)

People make the difference: You ever notice how different research labs are working on the same
problem all around the world and suddenly, one comes up with something all the rest overlooked.
Or maybe one lab comes up with some profound eureka that leads to a change in protocol because
of a mistake some tired, overworked lab assistant made. Each lab addresses a problem from a unique perspective, just as people do.

As Michael suggests, it would probably be a good idea to combine some organizations that have
overlapping missions, ie SBG/FBG/SFBG. Others, not so much maybe.

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Permalink Reply by Michael J Dukehart, II on November 13, 2009 at 2:40pm

Agreed i didn't go into it but there is a good reason that Greenpeace and The Sierra Club are seperate.....same goal but different ways to achieve it.

Also agreed on the local level....to a point not to pick on one group but first that came to mind.....do we really need a Alzhimers Association of Indiana....is it really a local issue or that different from Alzhimers in Texas. Local is what Local does......Food banks recieve from local and give back local.....may get some national funds but goal and most resources are local.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Waltz on November 13, 2009 at 12:50pm

If you want an example of non-profit done correctly check out Kiva.org! Actually I just wrote a blog post about them this morning. http://semiproblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-kivaorg-is-improving-wo...

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Permalink Reply by PK Koduri on November 13, 2009 at 9:43pm

Be g to disagree here too - http://blogs.cgdev.org/open_book/2009/10/kiva-is-not-quite-what-it-...

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Permalink Reply by Steve Stuck on November 13, 2009 at 9:26pm

Heres my take: Saying there are too many non for profits in America is like saying there is too many business's in America. It all comes down to choice of what you want to donate too and what you believe in.

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Permalink Reply by Linda J Ranger on November 14, 2009 at 7:03pm

ALI is definitely not for profit. As organizations go I do not think that you could not find a more worthy group to give to at the local level since we are such good stewards of your money. Today was a great day for me at Carson Pirie Scott selling Community Day coupon books at the store. With each $5 book we sold it included many coupon savings pages and a $10 coupon off "any" purchase. It was good for Carson's and definitely good for the Assistance League. We sold 23 books during the two hours I worked for a total of 23 books equally $115. I am anxious to hear how we did after I left.

Note the following:
Assistance League of Indianapolis (ALI), the 78th chapter of National Assistance League was organized in 1984 and chartered in 1988, with tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. On average, the organization boasts 210 member-volunteers and has a 12-member board of directors. We have no salaried staff or paid employees. Our board of directors, a member-elected working board, meets monthly.

The Assistance League has been providing local services since the 80's and it is always difficult to find new money sources besides its volunteers to keep us going and providing to the many citizens we service. We have an amazing group of volunteers and welcome new members or corporate sponsors. www.alindy.org

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Permalink Reply by Jon D. Speer on November 14, 2009 at 8:59pm

My friend Brooke DeRam and I were just talking about NPOs in Indiana yesterday. She rattled off a statistic that Indiana has ~13K NPOs in 2009--down from ~36K in 2008 (sorry, I don't have the source).

I've also heard that Indiana is one of the most philanthropic states in the country. Again, no source, just an anecdote that may or may not be true.

I'm a founder of one NPO (a not-for-profit trade organization INpact) and treasurer for another (Morgan County Recreational Alliance). INpact has had great interest. MCRA has been tough. To be fair, these two NPOs are VERY different. But for a NPO to be successful, there has to be a clear purpose and mission, and for that matter interest from the community they serve.

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Permalink Reply by Brooke DeRam on November 15, 2009 at 4:57pm

How can we say there are too many NFP's and still call ourselves entrepreneurs? Isn't there enough humanitarian work to go around?

Yes there are a lot of NFPs out there, though the unsuccessful ones are fizzling out (and yes, the RED TAPE that our lovely gov't forces all business owners to go through is a huge cause of this). But, the idea that they "are actually not non-profit" is a little skewed I think. Where are the facts to back this up?

On the Africa front... "Agree Africa is a big place. And people do want to help after they travel somewhere, but they shouldn't have to do it by creating another NPO unless they have a better way to do it."

It would most likely be beneficial to support existing NFPs rather than create redundancy, but instead of punishing those creating redundancy, let's help them understand the other better options.

"When we donate, do we really know where money is going?"

If you believe in a cause and think you might want to support it, it is your responsibility to research and find out exactly where your dollars are going. There is always a possibility that an organization (NFP or otherwise) is up to no good, but do your homework. Those that are up to no good will eventually fizzle out - it's survival of the fittest in the non-profit world - not much different than in the for profit world.

"Sticking to the main question of whether we have too many non-profits - yes we do and many are just driven by huge egos. I agree with Eisenberg's assertion that many are involved in servicing and not solving the problem."

That's a pretty negative thing to say. Providing service is not a bad thing and I certainly think that providing service rather than solving a problem is better than not helping the cause at all. Not to mention that not ALL causes can be solved.

A nonprofit organization is an organization that does not distribute its surplus funds to owners or shareholders, but instead uses them to help pursue its goals. (from Wikipedia)

Can't these goals be servicing the poor, servicing the hungry, servicing those who are wheel chair bound, etc. Is there an expectation to solve the world's problems.

...just my two cents.

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