The Rundown - March 18, 2022
The latest news and notes from the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors
The Rundown - (The Day After) St. Patrick’s Edition
Yesterday, we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. An Irish-themed holiday that celebrates all things about the Emerald Isle. Irish drinks, Irish food and Irish accents abound. If there is one thing I have learned about St. Patrick’s Day living in my hometown, it’s that it is the perfect day to go to the local Mexican restaurant. Of course, Cinco de Mayo is the perfect day to to the local Irish pub.
Philanthropy Then and Now….
This was an interesting piece on the JSTOR Daily website. The article speaks to the new HBO drama, “The Gilded Age”, which was created by Julian Fellowes, the same mind that brought us the British drama “Downton Abbey”. In full disclosure, my wife and I are currently going through our third binge-watching run of the show.
The piece describes how philanthropic efforts in the past were often the foray of the wives of those that were industrial magnates of the time. A simplistic view is that the men of the age made the money, while the women spent it. And of course, those women with more social sensibilities, looked after their fellow citizens with a bit more care and concern then their partners.
Those days of the industrial funded philanthropic machine were filled with benevolence towards fellow man with a huge side helping of moralizing to go along with it. Reading the article, you almost get the feeling that the Rockefellers of day begrudgingly gave to the poor and needy with a healthy side of stern admonishment for failed choices. Or perhaps, the Carnegies had no problem signing a check to the local relief fund but when it came to actually working with those in poverty….well, that might have been a step too far.
In these situations, I can’t help but feel for the beleaguered individuals that actually ran these relief societies. Faced with a desperate need for funds and a never ending supply of faces to support, those early nonprofit leaders I am sure had to walk some pretty tight ropes to not only get the resources they needed, but also do it in a way that allowed those being helped maintain some sense of dignity.
I’d like to say those days are long behind us, but even in today’s fight against poverty, there is a “savior” complex that certainly exists. Think about those times when a local church proudly announces that it is sending missionaries to the third world country in Africa when real needs at home are left unattended.
Don’t get me wrong, philanthropic efforts internationally are absolutely necessary. I know people who have changed the lives of people and communities oversees. Their work is absolutely necessary and of great value. But, sometimes it seems people are way more comfortable giving to charitable causes than actually getting up close and personal and doing the work. As long as you have the resources, cutting the check takes less time and effort than scheduling time to be somewhere for a food distribution. Perhaps even more to the point, it’s much easier to hand a check to a smiling Executive Director that is happy to receive you donation than having an awkward conversation with a client that may not have that same level of appreciation.
What would you do with $1,000,000?
Before this writing, I have never heard of Dylan Taylor. Mr. Taylor is described as a global business leader and philanthropist and an active pioneer in the field of space exploration. He recently penned this opinion piece in Newsweek.
I personally think Mr. Taylor should add “carpenter” to his biography because he hit the nail on the head when he said this:
There is simply nowhere to put vast sums of cash. Calling this a demand issue would be a misnomer, but once gifts reach the hundreds of millions of dollars, the number of charities equipped to disburse that much money is quite small.
Mr. Taylor was speaking on the newest hottest trend in philanthropy to give copious amounts of funding to non-profit organizations. In the new age of “scale” (which actually means “bigger is better”), philanthropists are encouraged to spend large amounts of money to nonprofit organizations, often with few strings attached.
Maybe I am speaking out of school as a nonprofit director, but my biggest fear is going to the mailbox and finding a seven-figure check in the mailbox. As much as we are a disciplined, effective and efficient organization, our little shop has no business getting a $1 million donation.
The reason is pretty simple, we wouldn’t know what to do with it and we wouldn’t certainly be able to spend it in an amount of time to please the donor. Perhaps if we were blessed with such a donation, we would get a new location or some new vehicles. Both could be argued to be an absolute necessity, but we would have to do the homework….a full and robust discussion on location needs, facility needs, program needs, staffing needs.
Maybe it’s just me, but I would much rather go through the work of determining our needs, creating a plan and then executing the plan. In this scenario, putting a huge donation at the beginning of the process is “putting the cart before the horse” as Grandpa would say.
And let’s face it, more money often leads to mission creep. Mission creep usually has two very negative consequences for the larger community. First, organizations in mission creep are drawn to do work that they are not prepared to do. Just because you are good at doing “A” does not necessarily mean you are good at doing “B”. Yes, you need to learn to adapt and do new things, but a large donation shouldn’t be the prime factor in leading your organization to that decision.
Second, sometimes that “B” work is already being done by an organization in your community that has been doing it longer and would be doing it better. Wouldn’t it be better to partner with that organization, or better yet, refer a donor that wants to give to that nonprofit that is really doing work in the community that the donor wants to see done?
In other words, don’t chase money. You are much more classy than that.
Now Hiring!
The YWCA of Dayton is looking for a new Vice President of Development. You can check out the job announcement here!
The Springfield (OH) Foundation is looking for a new executive director! Take a look at the job posting on LinkedIn here!
If you have a position you are hiring for, please feel free to email pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com and we will run an announcement for three weeks!
Ready to Learn Something New?
Spring is a wonderful time to visit Indianapolis and it opens a perfect opportunity to sharpen your skills and meet new professionals in the field. I would encourage you to look at some of the offerings of The Fund Raising School at the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University’s campus in Indianapolis. The professional development school has great programming both on-line and in-person both in Indianapolis and at other sites across the country. Take a look at their course offerings here!
What Can We Work on Together?
Did you know that Pinnacle Strategies works individually with nonprofit and public sector leaders to help them solve problems, achieve goals and gain confidence in their roles?
Why?
Because, this work is hard and it’s often a lonely road. Our nonprofit and public sector leaders need people that they can talk to to get solid advice and encouragement to do the work that is in front of them. If you feel that this can be of value to you, or a member of your team, please reach out to pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com and let’s talk.
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A Quick Note of Thanks!
This week the Pinnacle Strategies newsletter passed two amazing milestones! First, the newsletter registered it’s 300th subscriber this week; a pretty stout number for a newsletter that is just barely six months old.
I also learned that this newsletter is also a “Top 100” newsletter in the Business category on the Substack platform. Wow!
it’s amazing to see that this newsletter has readers in Canada, Italy, Kenya, India, the United Kingdom, the Caribbean and all over the United States. To say that we have an international newsletter, is not an exaggeration!
I know many of you have shared this with your friends and colleagues and I am very grateful. Thank you! If you haven’t share it yet…..well, here is your chance….
Other Ways to Connect
Our coaching practice has openings starting here in 2022. If you are interested in working with me to get your nonprofit organization on a track to achieve the big missions you have for your organization, please reach out to me at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com.
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