The chapter on advocacy was very interesting to me. I think advocacy is such an important thing but the term can also be abused in some ways. When reading that most nonprofits do some type of advocacy work, I was not surprised; most nonprofits are serving a demographic and every demographic has to feel marginalized and forgotten at some point (O'Neill, 138). The societal impact of advocacy organizations brought a somewhat new light to the sector for me. I now that advocacy groups mostly exist to change the practices or policies of a government organization, but unlike other nonprofit organizations, it is sometimes hard to see who they are directly serving. The American Cancer Society approaches advocacy with the idea that politicians and local government agencies need to be aware of the issues cancer patients are facing, you can see their mission statement on advocacy here. But it is interesting that large, international nonprofit organizations like the American Cancer Society have sectors completely devoted to advocacy.
The article from the National Council of Nonprofits was intriguing because they linked, like we've discussed in class and read about before, the need to serve with religious beliefs. The descriptions of some of the most powerful, influential people in America's history started at the nonprofit level and achieved mighty things under that umbrella. The press release from the Nonprofit Association of Oregon was straight to the point, which I prefer. I think it's a great idea to expose those organizations that have been abusing donors' trust and not fulfilling the obligations of their nonprofit status. On the other hand, it makes me wonder what will happen to those non profits that a just starting out and haven't had enough donations to give back 30% because they are still trying to cover their start up costs? The follow-up description of Senate Bill 40 was a little reassuring and made me think that starting this policy now while this is not a "widespread problem" in Oregon might stop a bigger problem before it has a chance to get started.
Chapter 8 on Arts & Culture was information for me because I did not know much about the arts and how they are supported. It is interesting to me that the federal government is such an "important funder of the arts in the U.S." yet the U.S. federal government is on the low end of supporters when compared to other developed countries (O'Neill, 166). Arnold's article about the arts not being a black hole for donors and supporters but art organizations are businesses was something I had not thought of before. I think that it can go both ways; I think that if planned well, the art industry could be huge, but if not properly funded or supported by government it would all fall apart. However, I do think that the arts are a very important thing for the youth in our country. These passionate young people have to go somewhere to express their experiences and emotions so why not something legal and federally funded?
I agree with your thoughts about US federal funding of programs. Funding a program is the only way that it is going to succeeded. The US government has a bad habit of starting programs or implementing requirements and then not adequately allocating funds to accomplish these goals. A prime example being No Child Left Behind by the Bush administration. A program which, ironically enough, has left lots of children behind.
ReplyDeleteI was a little surprised too that art nonprofits acted more like a business than other sectors. I think it's important that we as a Nation continue to fund the arts, especially within education. Even if all funding dried up, I still think people would find a way to express themselves. I have a great friend who runs a nonprofit dance company (Black Crow Studios) here in town. She receives no government support, and depends on donations from the community. She also supports her nonprofit with a very successful Professional dance Company (All that Dance), showing that either way people will find a way to express themselves and find employment in the sector.
ReplyDeleteI like what Joe had to say about finding donations via professionals. I think this is one of the best sources to find donations because a lot of people who have made a career out of their passion, whether it be art, education, health, etc., these are the prime interest group in providing support to NPOs.
ReplyDeleteThat is an interesting contradiction you highlighted, how the US government is both a critical supporter of arts in our culture but relatively low compared to our equally developed peers in the world. Yet it seemed that in another article we read that Christi noted, over $160 million was donated to the arts in 2005, which is a pretty substantial number. Like the SB40 issue, though I support art education, it kind of makes me wonder where the money is going.
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