Week Ten - Foundations

Wow, last blog. This term has kind of flown by. Here is a current article about country wide mayors speaking out on how foundations are building the local economy and keeping employment rates up:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/mayors-speak-out-about-impact-foundations-have-on-local-jobs-and-economies-117577473.html

How to do good and prove it

            Mulago Foundation seems to have a pretty good grasp on choosing good nonprofits and causes to fund. I agree with all of their demands of nonprofits. I liked how the article started out stating that it is not enough to even do well anymore. Nonprofits must put time and energy in measuring their impacts. There is not an endless supply of money, as there was during the better economy, for nonprofits. There are also a large number of nonprofits starting, the last five years has seen the largest growth in the NP sector. As Kevin Starr states, nonprofits must be designed for impact, they need a short and direct mission statement and they must integrate impact into their DNA.

            In this article I found the part interesting that stated only the final impact counts, ‘the rest is just input, which is worthwhile by not good enough on its own’. Some NP’s get too complicated in their mission statements. They may have a great cause, but even if their mission statement is not direct people will not listen. It is also important that the mission statement is short so that these organizations actually know what they are trying to accomplish. When mission statements get complex, employees might actually get confused of what they are trying to accomplish. I agreed with the end of the article discusses the danger of poorly designed nonprofits that keep on growing. He states, “stop raising money until you sort that out”, referring to not measuring impact.

A newly powerful grant-making force

            It is interesting to see how foundations are stepping up for what they believe. Traditionally, foundations have not gotten involved in political affairs dealing with their support. This has recently changed when the Smithsonian removed of a video of AIDS activist David Wojnarowicz, because of criticism. Artist endowed foundations have grown by more than doubled in the last fifteen years. Some of these foundations give money to solely to arts, but others give to social causes as well. These artist-endowed foundations reported $2.7 billion in assets for 2008. This is very impressive for a sector that is relatively new.

            The article stated that even though the economy is weak, artists continue to give. It stated, “All of this suggests that while most still fly below the radar, artist-endowed foundations merit attention.” These foundations are going to continue to grow as more people see the importance of art education and performance. I personally think that these art foundations are a doing great things. I think it is important that art is heavily incorporated into elementary education and money continues to flow into the art sector.

Donors and Nonprofits Defining Moment

            I thought this was a fantastic article. The next few years is really going to be a defining time for nonprofits. It is so true that people are going to want to return to how life was before the recession. As the economy is struggling and millions are left unemployed, nonprofits are playing a big role in educating and helping these people. The article states that after the recession, NP’s need to play a bigger role in the mechanics of the country. The idea of ‘Social Impact Bonds’ is a brilliant idea. It is the same idea of going into an area and starting a new organization to solve an issue, while at the same time there is already a long term organization in the area that already has ties with the community and is making a lasting difference. It makes no sense to start something new while good things are already taking place. These bonds will give government money to organizations that have proven that they are accountable with their finances are making a lasting difference.

Budget Plan

            I have to admit that I am still confused after reading this article. I do not really understand the tax cuts that are happening. I did find this quote interesting, “The cost to fix that tax for three years is more than $300-billion, roughly the same amount that would be saved.” I am interested to read my other group members blog to learn more about they think.

I also read the Nonprofit nation chapters, it discussed how foundations have grown and their finances. The articles on blackboard were all very good.

Cheers.

Week 9 - International Development

The international relief and development nonprofit sector is one that I want to work in. My parents both work for a relief and development NGO so these organizations are ones that I am familiar with. They work for a great organization called World Relief. Check it out:

http://worldrelief.org/

Nonprofit Nation

            The book stated that in 1998, the total assets from international relief and development nonprofits was just over five billion. I am sure that number has at least doubled as these organizations have grown rapidly and there has been a stronger push for good organizations that can effectively respond to disaster. I thought the whole chapter was interesting, I especially liked the conclusion, which stated that the international nonprofit sector is very new compared to other types of services, but it has had an impact on millions and millions of people since World War I. This sector has definitely opened the gate for international and local businesses, allowing these new organizations to flourish.

Mercy Corps

            Mercy Corps is a great organization; I am actually in the application process with this organization. There are not many international relief and development organizations based in the Northwest, only two large ones like World Vision and Mercy Corps. Exploring their website they seem to be a good organization based on good values. They definitely are making a strong impact across the globe. I know that they are involved in aid to North Korea, which is pretty awesome. They do have a beautiful building right downtown Portland.

William Easterly

∫            This is a great post by Easterly. There is so much money that goes into and foreign aid, yet there is not much change. People and organizations alike think they can bring people out of poverty when they are not very educated on the issues. I know of one organization that is trying to send used shirts to Africa by the truckload. It’s ideas like this that destroy local African businesses and give no thought to what is really needed. I have seen large NGO’s waste so much money on poorly thought out projects. I think that one of the problems is that some of these organizations are not culturally educated or sensitive. People need to be educated on how to get out of poverty, not a short-term solution that will keep them poor.

Millennium Development Goals

            These eight goals were set out by the UN in 2000. The hope was to have all the goals accomplished by 2015. It is looking like some of these goals will not be accomplished because of poor spending and program management by some key organizations, namely the UN. These goals are great. It is definitely a right of every human being to have basic needs met. In the process of meeting these goals, lots of the money has gone through some very dirty hands. It is important that there is a bottom up approach to these goals. Some governments have shown that they are not responsible enough with the money that they have received. I believe it is very important that these goals are met soon.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

            One interesting thing she said in the video is that 61% of all Africans are under the age of 24. This is a crazy statistic. The youth of Africa are truly the people who can change the continent for the better. It is important that institutions and businesses are built up so these youth can help the economy. Many African countries rely on aid, not on their own infrastructure. As she said in order to move the continent forward, Africa needs to get young people employed. This was an interesting video.

Well that’s it.

Cheers.