A Controversial Question About The State Of Nonprofits
An Uncomfortable Perspective That Many People Are Not Considering
A Controversial Question About The State Of Nonprofits
An Uncomfortable Perspective That Many People Are Not Considering
Written by a human, for humans, always.
I want to start this article by saying this...
I believe that nonprofits are great.
They need funding.
A part of all my business’s revenue is directed towards different causes...
Directed by clients’ choices.
A part of my own take-home income goes toward different nonprofits.
I encourage clients I work with to utilize a Regenerative Legacy Business Model...
Which one of the principles is that businesses should utilize a part of their revenues to improve the state of the world...
Because the state of the world has a direct impact on businesses...
And I have seen how this model actually improves business results in a multitude of ways.
With that being said...
Let me get a little bit controversial.
This is not directed at any specific organization or individual.
It is simply a different perspective that I believe is worth considering.
You may agree with the perspective.
You may not agree with the perspective.
Either way, I believe that it is healthy to consider different perspectives to inform our thinking and worldview.
I was reading an article...
That was discussing how some number of nonprofits are going to take a hit...
And may not end up being able to recover from the hit.
Essentially...
These nonprofits are going to be losing some amount of governmental funding...
Some of them may lose all government funding...
Some of them may be a significant amount...
The end result of this is that some of these nonprofits may not be able to continue due to the losses.
The article discussed challenges such as low-income individuals, families, and households struggling to give as much due to their own financial challenges...
As well as high-income individuals, families, households, and businesses putting certain priorities in places that others may not agree with.
These are valid to note and question.
Perspectives worth considering.
Some of this indicates that there may be nonprofits that struggle due to these challenges.
Here is what that article, and many people overall, may not be considering, though...
Are all of the nonprofits that are going to be losing funding...
Unable to function without government funding...
Actually needed?
Again, this is not directed at any particular nonprofit or individual...
But I believe it is a question worth asking.
Let me put this perspective into 2 different focuses to help you get a clearer picture.
For the first focus...
Let’s get off of nonprofits directly and look at a different context...
Let’s think of a business that creates a product...
They believe that everyone absolutely needs that product and that product will change the world...
They try to sell that product...
And nobody buys it.
Do we say that the customers are wrong?
Or do we say that, perhaps, the business was wrong in believing that people actually wanted that product?
We say that the business was wrong.
That the business was always going to fail because nobody wanted the product.
What is the difference between that and a nonprofit?
Really, the only difference is the “product” being sold...
One is a physical product...
The other is a cause.
If someone is trying to get you to buy into a cause...
And nobody is actually willing to give money to that cause...
Is it actually a cause that is needed?
Again, this is just a perspective to consider that is not directed at any specific organization...
But it is worth wondering...
How many of the “causes” that are losing their funding...
Are actually needed...
If they struggle or are completely unable to get funding that they claim they need...
Except from the government.
Which brings us to a second focus...
Earlier, I talked about how the article that I read was discussing high-income donations...
And whether their donations really needed to go to the places where they are sending them.
That is a valid question.
But here is a different focus...
What is the difference between these high-income individuals, families, households, and businesses...
And the government itself?
The high-income usually generate the money they donate from work that they do directly...
While the government generates money from taxes they collect.
But there are specific individuals within the government who decide where the nonprofit funding goes...
And are you certain...
That they are not falling into the same exact problem as the high-income individuals?
Could it be possible...
That they, too, make questionable choices about where funding goes?
Choices which...
Perhaps even the majority of people...
Do not believe that their tax dollars should fund?
It is not like the people vote for which nonprofits their taxes should fund.
Are people actually verifying...
Questioning...
Or directly demanding...
What causes they want their government representatives to fund?
The majority of the time...
The answer is no.
Most people vote a member into a governmental position...
Then...
Simply hope that the individual does the will of the people.
Does that always happen?
If you actually ask most people...
You will find that this is likely not the case.
That they believe their representatives could do better.
How do you know...
If the causes these representatives are funding...
Actually represent the will of the people?
Then...
If these nonprofits lose governmental funding...
It could be another explanation to be included...
Alongside the others we have discussed...
Of why some of these nonprofits are no longer going to be able to function.
Now...
This question and perspective do not include another known problem within the world of nonprofits...
Corruption and deception.
There are nonprofits that currently exist where, if you look at their financials...
Most of the money “never” goes to the cause that it supposedly supports.
Are some of these corrupt and deceptive nonprofits going to be the ones that disappear...
Unable to get funding because, when people actually “look” at where the funding is going, it is clear that it is not helping the cause?
There is also a challenge of nonprofit fraud that has been getting more attention...
Which is not something new - there has been nonprofit fraud that has existed for decades...
Long before the focus on the ones that are currently being questioned...
But it does bring into question whether some of the nonprofits that will be unable to continue...
Only existed because of governmental loopholes in the first place?
Again, I am not directing this perspective at any specific nonprofits...
There is far more fraud than most people realize...
Or willingly want to admit to existing...
But it is possible...
That the reason that some number of these nonprofits are not able to get funding without governmental assistance...
Is because they solely exist because of governmental assistance.
We could play a thought experiment that if the government gave back these tax dollars they have taken...
With the sole requirement that it be specifically given to “some” nonprofit that the taxpayer chooses...
It is possible that some number of these nonprofits would still disappear...
Because it was the government officials who chose them...
But never actually aligned with what the people they represent want?
With all of this being said...
Will some good nonprofits also lose funding?
It is very likely.
Will the loss in funding make it very difficult for the good nonprofits that exist?
Quite possibly.
So what can be done?
The options before us...
Is that we, the people, can demand our representatives to guide where funding goes...
So that the causes we want to support can continue to exist.
We, the people, can also choose to support the nonprofits we want to continue...
Either through funding if we are able...
Or through helping get the word out about “why” those causes are important to fund.
We, the people, can also look into what is actually being funded...
And we can question whether those “should” get funding...
And perhaps we can get money redirected from causes that we do not want to support...
To causes that we actually care about and believe need the funding...
While preventing undesirable “causes” from draining funding from what we actually want.
What will accomplish nothing...
Is complaining about nonprofits losing funding.
Complaining...
At the end of the day...
Accomplishes nothing...
Except maybe virtue signalling.
If you want a certain cause to continue forward...
Go and do something about it.
There are many ways to support different nonprofits...
Many of which do not require money.
If you complain...
But do not ever do anything directly to help...
Tells me that you do not actually care all that much about that cause you claim to support.
If it is really worth supporting...
Do something about it.
What most people fail to understand...
Is that what allows these causes to survive and thrive...
Is small support.
Large donations are always helpful...
Whether from high-income donors or from the government...
But it is really the support from the people that allows these nonprofits to get the necessary traction needed.
My question to you is...
What are you actually going to do?
Many causes do need real support...
How will you help?
To Your Sageship,
Cody
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