Comments on: Too Many Charities?

By: Another Social Service Organization

Another Social Service Organization — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:52:07 +0000

I want to echo the comment made by the social service organization. I previously worked at a very large nonprofit. We went through a lengthy process to decide which program would apply to which foundation.

The size of our organization created some wonderful efficiencies – something foundations should encourage. Yet most foundations would only accept one proposal from the organization. This cost us revenue and favored smaller organizations that may not have been as efficient.

By: Daniel F. Bassill

Daniel F. Bassill — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 03:05:12 +0000

I think the question of “too many” or “not enough” could be answered better if a community were to map areas of need, and overlay on those maps organizations serving those needs. I’ve had people say there are “too many tutor/mentor programs” in Chicago. However, at http://www.tutormentorprogramlocator.net I host maps of Chicago which show locations of more than 165 organizations, and break that down by age group served, and type of program. In looking at this information you can quickly see that most areas don’t have enough programs, especially for older kids.

If donors and leaders were using maps for this type of analysis their might be a more consistent distribution of resources into all poverty neighborhoods, supporting constantly improving non profits in areas where they are most needed. There certainly would be a better understanding of what areas might have “too many” and what areas “too few”.

By: Philanthropy Daily Digest | Tactical Philanthropy

Philanthropy Daily Digest | Tactical Philanthropy — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:03:06 +0000

[...] The Second Line: Too Many Charities? It is often argued that there are too many charities. In this post, Albert Ruesga disagrees and explains why we have so many and why it is not a bad thing. (tags: philanthropy) [...]

By: Twitted by tactphil

Twitted by tactphil — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:29:38 +0000

[...] This post was Twitted by tactphil [...]

By: Janis Foster

Janis Foster — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:45:49 +0000

You are raising great questions – questions that surface quite often in the work of Grassroots Grantmakers. I want to toss in two other thoughts. One is the possibility that more informal groups of citizens, taking responsibility for quality of life issues on their own blocks and in their own neighborhoods, are important contributors to community vitality and resilience – but that many funders overlook possibilities for using relatively small grants to encourage, support and endorse the important role that these groups play – all because they do not have nonprofit status. The second is that we may need more options for groups that need more structure and permanence and access to foundation funding from time to time; right now we have form a nonprofit, merge with a nonprofit or establish a fiscal sponsorship relationship with a nonprofit. I’ve written about this issue quite a bit on my blog, Big Thinking on Small Grants (http://janisfoster.blogspot.com). Most relevant posts are “To 501(c)(3) or Not to 501(c)(3): Who’s Asking the Question?” (September 2008), “Let’s Be Clear – It’s a Choice” (May 2009), and “Possibilities & Assumptions: What’s Next After a Small Grant?” (May 2009). Would love your comments. Thanks for raising this important discussion.

By: Albert Ruesga

Albert Ruesga — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:50:57 +0000

It’s a complicated issue. Sometimes foundations are squeamish about making large grants to smaller organizations. Some even have a 10% rule, limiting grant size to no more than 10% of a nonprofit’s operating budget. Merging and thereby becoming bigger might help in this case. There are the supposed savings for the nonprofits from achieving certain economies of scale — rarely realized in my experience.

Then there are the occasional mergers on the supply side of the equation. It’s not unusual for nonprofits to lose out when funders merge. It’s often been the case that after one bank merges with another, for example, the combined corporate giving program is smaller than the two separate programs added together.

By: Social Service Organization

Social Service Organization — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:49:16 +0000

Foundations rarely realize that their own policies often encourage the birth of new organizations instead of running the new program through an established organization. For example: ABC Foundation gives grants to Established Organization as well as to Startup Organization in 2009. Their policies allow only one grant application per organization per year, which is common to many funders. If in 2010 Startup Organization merges with Established Organization, between them they can only make one request to ABC Foundation, which means that one program or another cannot be funded. If Startup Organization continues to struggle along on its own, both Established and Startup can request funding from ABC Foundation.

In my community, there are a very limited number of grant sources. There are also a number of small organizations that survive on grants that would be better off if they merged with larger, more stable organizations. However, neither side can afford to pursue mergers because they will lose grant opportunities as a result.

By: Social, Educational & Athletic Club

Social, Educational & Athletic Club — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:30:02 +0000

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with passion and great ideas. Since March 2007 we’ve been working out of our home – we manage back to school outreach efforts and a clothing closet, 24/7 – all from charitable donations.