Finally, the last blog for the class. It been a great class and what better way to end it by focusing on philanthropy. Foundations are the way on how wealthy individuals donor their time and money. I believe most foundations help a good cause through pathbreaking research and new programs, but in the NonProfit Nation book, it also shows the negative side on how it serve the interests of the rich and a tool for marketing.
President Obama' budget plan tries to limit and reduce item deduction to save money. I find it interesting that the tax was originally designed to prevent wealthy Americans from escaping taxation but that is not the case today, where they try to loop hole it. Obama is try to fix this tax system and it would save more money if there was no tax deduction because more money would go to the government. This plan might affect foundations and the amount of money donors would give but not much since most are very wealthy, thus won't see a big difference. In the article "Donors and Nonprofit", it is interesting that there is mention of charity giving and how they don't make up government cuts. Donations to programs should be consider as a bonus in helping society, not doing the government's job. On the other hand, the UK is trying a new idea to reward private investors to help fund nonprofit programs that can reduce government costs and I find this idea interesting because it blends government, nonprofit, and business world together for a better cause.
In the article about "Artist-Endowed Foundations", I found it very interesting that artists have a lot of control over the organizations they fund, like if museums didn't represent their art in a certain way, they could cut funds and grants. It is interesting because it seem like these artists and famous people control the nonprofit they fund which I do understand since they are providing money but at the same time they should help them achieve the organization's goals, not their own interests. I really like the "Integrate Social Impact" article, where they want to see proven impact behind philanthropic funding. It good to hear on how they are approach this type of work and how they want to follow up and track the results. Examples such as number of schools built, raise awareness, or increase empowerment are not good enough, more must be done and I agree with how the Design for Impact approach works in a much better way.
In our class and saverger hunt, we learn about The Oregon Community Foundation, which is the largest foundation in Oregon. They provide money to many organization and I think their mission statement reflects on how they helping Oregonians.
Question for discuss: Do you think foundations are doing more of the government's job in providing money to fund programs? Is the UK's approach of combining government and nonprofits going to work in the USA?
The video below can provide insight on the question. It shows how community foundation work and what their role is. The important thing is that they should focus on their "community", so in a sense it seems like they act like a local government aid.
Your video was a really easy way to clearly layout the function of a community foundation. I hadn’t realized that there was any distinction between the structure of foundations, and was intrigued to see how many different kinds of foundations there were (independent/corporate/community/operating/public). I feel the role of the community foundation is exactly why we should stay away from integrating the nonprofit sector into the government. To function properly a nonprofit must have a true incentive to work on the actual needs of the people they are helping, and a broader spectrum would simply lead to inefficiency. Even in the funding side of nonprofits, a local foundation would know which nonprofits in the area would have the greatest impact on society and leave less efficient nonprofits behind.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to watch the video about community foundations. Community foundations are really a vital part of how nonprofits can work out their money. I feel like they serve an important role as an intermediary. I had never really considered their effect until doing the project but they are really important it seems. I agree that the Obama plan was certainly a good thing. I don't think that rich people should be given all of these loop holes so they give to the non-profit of their choosing. It seems most people think that a rising tide raises all ships, however, the upper tax bracket can often be selective in the process of choosing which non-profit to give to
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