Be open, or else!

An editorial in The Wall Street Journal takes a stern look at the way nonprofits operate in How Charities Can Make Themselves More Open. The proposed recipe for openness:

1. Provide more information online.
   
2. Adopt higher standards.
   
3. Adhere to those standards.
   

To which I say both hear, hear and duh.

It's only distressing that this is necessary advice to anyone in the nonprofit world.

The days of nonprofit secrecy will soon be over. The old sense that some stuff was "too complicated" for donors to need to know is anachronistic.

So open your books, open your mind. Getting donors on board will get harder and harder to do without that.

Technorati Tag: openness

Comments

[Jason]

Great topic I think I am going to write about something similar. I recently had a comment that I think relates to this really well:
http://asmallchange.wordpress.com/2007/11/27/grassroots/#comment-18
I think that donors want to know where their money is going and what for. They want to know what it costs to make a difference and want nonprofits and fundraisers to be transparent.

Great comment on ratios. I get so frustrated with how nonprofits calculate their admin rates.

[Jeff Schreifels]

Jeff, graat post. One thing that troubles me though is that non-profits are running on ratios not results. What I mean is that fundraising RATIOS is the unfortunate standard in our business NOT actual program results. All of these fundraising "watchdogs", are focusing on the wrong thing. Non-profits are running lean and program staff are stretched. If non-profits were focused on actual results, they would hire good people with good salaries to get the work done and thus show their donors how their dollars made a difference. Donors understand that you have to have overhead. What they don't understand is that nothing happened with their $$. Fortunately, people are starting to get it. IT's about RESULTS that non-profits should be held accountable, not RATIOS. Now, that doesn't mean you aren't a good steward with the money, but money has to be spent to get the work done. I hope you will focus on this in 2008. Let's make 2008 the year of getting results!!!!!