Post 9 (Final Post): Foundations & Funders

Big Changes to Tax Incentives for Donors

To be honest, this article is incredibly frustrating. I agree with President Obama as he says, “For too long we have tolerated a tax system that’s a complex, inefficient, and loophole-riddled mess,” in reference to the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealth. I believe these tax cuts should we allowed to expire in two years, but I fear that will be met with opposition, just like these changes in tax deductions will also be met with opposition. The argument against is easy to understand. People want to limit the power and control of the federal government, which I fully understand. The federal government doesn’t seem to be doing much good for the American public these days, so decentralizing it’s power and allowing the private and NP sector take care of philanthropy and civil services would likely be more effective. The fact of the matter is that government control can be limited, but it will never be eliminated. As nice as it would be to find solutions for the growing social and economic issues in the America’s communities, we cannot overlook the problems in the White House. America in is in SO MUCH DEBT!!! These tax cuts are Obama’s attempt to lower that debt, and we need to realize that extra money for the wealthy and potentially misguided philanthropy will need to be ‘sacrificed’ to reduce the national debt.


Donors & Nonprofits Face Defining Moment in Responding to a Crisis

“The new normal,” I love it! That’s an awesome term. The new normal, as in a normal standard of living and normal economic prosperity based on the grossly superfluous levels of both of these currently seen in America. As the article points out, “accelerating economies do not always increase standards of living equally across all income levels,” and as the housing bubble collapse has shown us, accelerating economies also have the potential to collapse and wreak havoc on the standard of living they created in the first place. If there’s one thing American culture and American decision makers are good at, it’s reacting to changes in the system. In this case I hope we get it right and react to the economic collapse by building up the NP sector to fill the void left by the downfall of greedy private sector companies.


Artist Endowed Foundations

Well, I’ll start by saying that I think that the Smithsonian’s critics are making mountains out of molehills in condemning the museum’s decision to remove the video, and this is probably an example of the media creating a story where there isn’t much of one. Nonetheless, I think it’s neat that artist-endowed foundations are increasing. You really can’t go wrong with fine art, and it’s nice to hear that the great artists of the world (or at least donors acting on behalf of the great artists of the world) are reinvesting in the future of their own craft.


How to Do Good & Prove It

Wow, this guy’s good! I like this article a lot, and I think there’s a lot of truth to Starr’s statements. Scalability is a must. In order to have an impact on the world you have to have an idea that can grow on its own and become its own system. Even if you want to make an impact on you local community you need to have an idea that can grow and evolve until it reaches a size that allows it to effect more people. Of course, his point on integrating impact into the DNA is a must as well. I think that’s generally easy to comprehend. Don’t bother creating a program or starting a NP that isn’t going to do anything. My favorite point, however, is the eight-word mission statement. I’d love a world in which I didn’t have to read long, boring, jargon-filled mission statements that don’t necessarily tell me what the company does. They might give an idea about a companies mission, but they’re often convoluted mixtures of the actual mission and the writer’s personal beliefs or rationale for starting a company. Keep it to eight words, agreed.


Chapter 10: Funders

The beginning of this chapter states that grants only for 3% of NP revenue, and I wonder how that number has changed in the past decade. At first I wondered if that NP could actually make any use of that 3%, but then I think the conclusion painted a nice picture by saying that “grantmaking in the US is primarily a story of leveraging” (O’Neill 208). Grants don’t provide a complete base for NP funding, but they can provide a boost that might make or break the future of an NP.


Chapter 11: Mutual Benefit

I was intrigued to know what this chapter would be about based on it’s title, but it was actually really interesting to frame a group of the NP sector as “noncharitable.” Sounds weird, but I guess I never thought about the fact that organizations can exist with the goal of helping other organizations. Nonprofits don’t always have to exist to provide social services or aid. Cool.


Rand Paul Interview on Daily Show

This is sort of off topic, but I thought this was an interesting interview. Rand Paul, Republic Senator (and self-proclaimed member of the Tea Party) came on to the Daily Show to discuss some of his views on federal government. The interview is in three different parts, but I only put this clip in there because they talk about government control and the Bush-era tax cuts that has popped up in our readings for this week. Enjoy!

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-march-7-2011/exclusive---rand-paul-extended-interview-pt--3