philanthropy – Page 6

Stop saying that 80% of nonprofit funding comes from individual donors. It’s misleading.

Posted on September 26, 2021September 27, 2021 by Vu

[Image description: A grey striped cap, lying on red velvet, wearing a tiny red and golden crown, covered in Canadian dollar bills of different denominations. They are wearing a necklace with a gold dollar sign pendant. They are looking to the left, surrounded by an aural of feline regality. Image by Allange on Pixabay]

Hi everyone. Quick reminder: Please get flu shots for you and your family, if you are able to. Hospitals and healthcare workers are overwhelmed by COVID, so in addition to getting your COVID shots, get your flu shot. And then buy yourself a new house plant or some chocolate as a reward.

Every time I criticize foundations, someone steps in with “well, 80% of philanthropic dollars come from individual donors.” Usually it is a well-meaning statement, designed to give hope to those of us who are frustrated with foundations and their various archaic and ridiculous practices. And taken as a whole, it may be true. This report, for example, shows that in 2019, 69% of giving comes from individuals, 10% from bequests, 17% from foundations, and 5% from corporations.

If 17% of our revenues come from foundations and 5% from corporations, why should we spend so much time and energy bashing our heads against the walls, screaming in anguish at the foundations and corporations that require quarterly reports, make us use their own budget templates, or, worst of all, force us to remove Oxford Commas to stay within character limits? If they account for only a fraction of total philanthropic dollars, maybe we’re wasting time trying to get foundations and corporations to change and should focus more time rallying individual donors?

We need to rethink the concept of “mission creep”

Posted on August 22, 2021August 23, 2021 by Vu

[Image description: A blue-ringed octopus floating around. They are bright orange with bright blue rings all over. This octopus’s adorableness hides the fact that this species is among the most venomous and deadly of all creatures, containing venom a thousand times more powerful than cyanide, enough for each octopus to kill 26 people within minutes. Not sure how that is relevant to this blog post, but it’s still interesting. Image by pen_ash on Pixabay.]

Hi everyone. Quick reminder before we get started. This Wednesday, August 25^th, 11am PT, Community-Centric Fundraising is having a one-year celebration/reflection. I hope to see you there. Meanwhile, if you’ve benefited from the CCF movement or your org has made changes because of it, please share.

There are only a few things we all agree on in this work. One of those things is that mission creep is no good, very bad. Mission creep is like mixing trash and recycling together. It’s like not tipping a hairstylist or restaurant server. It’s like soaking a cast-iron pan in water overnight. It’s bad.

The term originated in 1993 and concerned the United Nations’s peacekeeping efforts during the Somali Civil War, and now it’s used a lot in our sector to talk about when organizations start doing things outside their stated mission, which causes organizations to waste resources on stuff they’re not good at, or that another org is already doing more effectively. When orgs don’t stick to their missions, it often leads to confused constituents, annoyed partner orgs, irritated funders, and a less effective field.

We need to support legislation on philanthropy’s crappy, inequitable practices

Posted on June 21, 2021June 21, 2021 by Vu

[Image description: Two kittens in a brown wicker basket. One is white and grey, the other one black and grey. They look cute but not very happy. Maybe because they too are thinking of how ridiculous Donor Advised Funds and other current philanthropic practices are. Image by Amy Baugess of Unsplash]

Hi everyone. This blog post may be a little wonky, but it is important, so thank you for reading it all the way through. Last week, a bunch of us had a Party to Enhance Equity in Philanthropy (PEEP) event, a time for funders and nonprofit folks to get together and just hang out without an agenda. In Seattle, we met for a picnic. This was the first time in over a year that many of us were in the same physical space, and it was wonderful. (And slightly awkward; someone offered me their hand to shake, and I nearly dropped my hibiscus-flavored sparkling water and ran screaming down the park).

While it was nice to see one another, and we should continue this tradition, having a fun event is not sufficient to solve many of the crappy, archaic, frustrating, inequitable practices in philanthropy. For that, we need legislation. Which is why I am happy to see that the Accelerate Charitable Efforts (ACE) act is moving forward. Here is an article on this bipartisan effort. The bill will do a few things, including: