Foundations & Funders

So the article about Obama reducing the tax exemptions for the wealthy was really hard for me to understand. Unfortunately, my brain does not work well with most numbers and I certainly cannot figure out what "return to 2009 levels, when the first $3.5-million was exempt from tax, and the tax rate was set at 45 percent" means. 


I liked the article by Sean Stockton Donors and Nonprofits Face a Defining Moment in Responding to Crisis. I thought it was well written and easily understandable. I felt that the article was all about our generation, how are we going to supplement our economy with less federal aid? "The new normal presents philanthropy a chance to demonstrate that it can strengthen the connection between economic growth and broad-based increases in standards of living." It's interesting that Stockton talks about the standards of living; I feel that it is important to be realistic and teach young people that they do not need to live extravagantly but that it is okay to live humbly. Why, well because there are millions of people living in conditions that a majority of Americans would pick death over. Anyways, I think Stockton's point that nonprofits play an important role in preventing problems, is a big deal and really accurate. "Perhaps just as important, however, are philanthropic efforts that prevent the problems that end up costing society the most to deal with—problems like drug addiction, illiteracy, and criminal behavior." I think he's right when he says that nonprofits must not become victims, but they must offer solutions to federal funding cuts. 


Christine Vincent's article A Newly Powerful Grant-Making Force: Artist Endowed Foundations was really interesting. It is a powerful moment I'm sure for those foundations to have pull over what the Smithsonian does. It makes sense thought to me that as these foundations increase, there is a greater sense that they are a community and they have voices that needs to be heard; therefore, they are voicing their opinions more and more. And I watched a clip from the video.....it was interesting to say the least. 


Alex Goldmark's article How to Do GOOD and Prove it was really innovative. I also read Kevin Starr's PopTech Talk and found him very interesting to watch and listen to. The idea of limiting an organization's mission statement, is like limiting a perspective student's admission essay, brilliant! If you cannot limit your description, than how the hell do you know what you are trying to do? I do not necessarily agree that if an organization's reach is limited, than they are not worth investing in, because I feel like local outreach is just as important, and is often a motivating factor for others to reach out internationally. The idea that Starr has about proving your success is vital I feel like in our world today. So many organizations say they do a,b and c but really, they focus on a and b while c gets put off for another year. This tactic could really help broad nonprofits narrow down their audience and the services they provide. 


Chapter ten about Funders was okay. I like that O'Neill labels funders as "the brokers of effective philanthropy." This is such an interesting concept because I've never really heard it discussed before taking this class. These agencies really do over the control and power to shape government policies, support groundbreaking research, and essentially create a new social trend. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a prime example; the foundation challenged other private foundations and billionaires to donate a large percentage of their money to worthy causes instead of buy properties or give it all to their children, etc. It's a really cool idea in my opinion and I think, as we have read and discussed, foundations are really making an impact on society and have created an industry of its own. 


Chapter eleven on Mutual Benefit was interesting but like most of the other data, outdated. Though society recognizes the contributions that these organizations make, some of these organizations have seen a decline in membership which is interesting. I wonder if their membership as increased in wake of the financial trouble middle low-income and middle-income families are seeing or not. The fact that self-help groups have grown rapidly is somewhat humorous to me but the important thing as O'Neill points out, is that nonprofits continue to play a major role in American society. 

International Nonprofits & Foreign Aid

I found the chapter on International Nonprofits to be very interesting. It was not surprising that most are relief organizations but it was a surprise that many of those relief agencies are religiously affiliated. The federal government's support of international nonprofit organizations was also very surprising. We have talked a bit about foundations in class so I knew that many foundations that are U.S. based fund large international nonprofits, but the statistics about the increase in foundation funding in the early 90's was interesting. The pandemic of international health issues being a factor in international aid and nonprofit focus, seems obvious but the scale of aid, was surprising. It seems that economics have had a huge influence over the work of international nonprofit organizations; this seems to be a blow to those organizations that want to preserve culture and help the world understand the different types of people.

While exploring the Mercy Corps website, it was surprising to me that their reach goes so far. I had no idea until now that so many countries are affected by this organization in so many different ways. The short clip from William Easterly was incredibly interesting. I had never thoroughly thought about the fact that maybe some people living in "poverty" might not want the type of aid that they are receiving. It's true that people claim they know how to help these people, but where are they getting this information? How do we guarantee that our funds or products get to the people that need them? He brings up the point of accountability or lack there of and it's mind boggling that they organizations that push for foreign aid cannot even guarantee that people are being effected by the money spent. His honesty about the salaries of the employees of the World Bank, was frank and appreciated. I think corruption not only in our own political realm, but in the foreign political world is devastating to hear about and yet very true. Lack of motivation is sad but also leveled out by the people motivated enough to ask for this aid in the first place, it's just a fine line between where positive motivation ends and lack of motivation begins.

I read these forum comments awhile ago and it's really interesting to see what people think about aiding other countries not only in times of natural disaster, but in times of health epidemics, war, etc.