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Family and friends, I need your help! My very articulate and adventurous boss at Indy Reads​ has gotten an article about her foraging excursion published in the Elephant Journal! It is a quick, very informational read that I think anyone would enjoy. If you could please take 5 minutes to go the article and learn something new, I'd really appreciate it. She is hoping to get as many people as possible to read it in the first 48 hours to help spread the article across cyberspace. THANK YOU!

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CARLOS AMORALES I Black Cloud 

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Brandolon Barnett puts forth descriptions of opportunities for philanthropists in today’s society. I can see connections in his analysis to Horvath and Powell’s reading from this week’s class. Horvath and Powell discuss disruptive philanthropy and claim it has three distinct features; it can change the conversation, provide belief in the redemptive virtues of competition and create new models of funding for public goods. Barnett seems to be headed in the same direction with his article.

In regards to changing the conversation, Barnett describes how we can create a culture of giving for the new generations and our future. To do this, “the need to identify and come to terms with the effect of technological and societal disruptions on the flows of money into the nonprofit sector leads to a fundamental reexamination of the question of what giving is.” He encourages that we take this into consideration to create new opportunities and discussions within the nonprofit sector. 

When examining the new social good economy consisting of “the enhanced visibility of social enterprises, sustainable products, crowdfunding, and other innovations” Barnett touches on the effects of competition. While donors are becoming more aware of the increasing amount of choices for their donations, Barnett believes this helps promote philanthropy due to the desire of donors to become a key player in the community and common social causes. The competition among the nonprofit sector encourages philanthropists to help someone, but due to the choices it also allows them to take a moment to consider what they are truly looking for in a new relationship with an organization so that they make the best choice for their donation.

Finally, I see new models for funding public goods when Barnett refers to the use of crowdfunding frequently throughout this article. Crowdfunding has emerged with the immense popularity of social media. Websites such as GoFundMe.org promote the opportunity for anyone to raise funds for basically anything, whether it is for an individual or organization. This new model of funding for public goods, used frequently today by nonprofits, fulfills the third and final feature of disruptive philanthropy. 

I still stand by my statement in class that “disruptive” is not the best vocabulary choice to describe this form of philanthropy. To me, the term indicates very negative connotations, when as a whole, it seems “disruptive” philanthropy can bring about positive changes. 

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This week we discussed accountability after reading Reich’s article, “On the Role of Foundations in Democracies.” This topic has frequented many themes throughout the semester and clearly it is not just being discussed in the classroom. This article articulates the need for the nonprofit sector to measure the impact of their activities. They focus on the plan to go beyond expenditures and instead, attempt to discover how their activities actually impact their constituents. 

Impact is a very objective term. What could be deemed as “impact” in my view could easily be different from someone else. Plus, there is the question of positive versus negative impact. I do not agree with this article’s idea to attempt to measure this do to these two reasons.

This leads to my question I mentioned in class - Does anyone have an actual plan to hold nonprofits accountable or are we just going to continuously repeat ourselves in the obvious statement that a plan is needed? 

Reich mentioned the fact that foundations are not legally required to be transparent, which in turn limits their accountability. What if they were required to provide information on their organization and its resources? Reich discussed the fact that foundations are not forced to have a website, office, annual report, etc. Most foundations and other nonprofit organizations do this voluntarily though, so what if it were a legal requirement to have those things? A majority of foundations and other nonprofits would not have to do much extra work and it could increase public opinion/support of them by providing more transparency. However, it still leaves the question regarding WHO would monitor that nonprofits were fulfilling these requirements each year. I do not foresee the topic of accountability being solved completely anytime soon, but perhaps there are a few minor steps we can begin to take. 

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As I read this article, I could not help but wonder if all these regulations for international donating are helpful or harmful. The writer states the regulations are created for the purpose of ensuring that U.S. donated dollars are actually being used for the charitable reasons they were meant for as well as avoiding allowing the money to go towards hidden terrorist organizations. This surprised me because I was not expecting such a negative connotation of where donated US dollars could possibly go. Another statement they make is that by follow the regulations it helps donors avoid complicated legal and tax constraints across different economies and governments of other countries. This sounds more logical in my opinion. 

Thankfully, there are U.S. nonprofit organizations that donors entrust their money too that serve international countries with development assistance, humanitarian assistance, and recovery and rehabilitation. These nonprofits are bridging the distance globally so that individuals can easily become international philanthropists. 

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This week we discussed the question of to what degree should the nonprofit sector and the public sector be involved with each other. Salamon proposed three types of relationships possible: supplementation, contestation, or cooperation. In our class discussion, “it depends” was easily included as an answer (just ten minutes in too). Well, in Jack Avery’s case, cooperation was the level of relationship that helped him develop into a professional. Not only did government and nonprofit entities work together for youth development, but also corporate entities. Each sector has their own unique characteristics that community members can benefit from; the Bay Area seems to understand just that. 

If you are interested in reading about this young professional’s steps that led him on his educational journey, please enjoy! It was comforting to read how his colleagues quickly stepped up to mentor and guide him into working in the public policy realm. 

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As a citizen of a country, where associations are popular and assumed to be helpful to our society, people should always inquire about how their donations are being used. It is the responsibility of the community member to hold charities accountable for their money and actions. If this task is left idle, the dark side of charity can sadly occur.

A nonprofit charity from Illinois is being shut down after investigations revealed that less than 4% of donations made to the charity were actually being used to provide services for veterans. A majority of the funds were being pocketed and paying for unnecessary administrative costs. Thankfully, the remaining assets of VietNow are being sent to two legitimate organizations in the area that function correctly as charities.

It is sad to hear that an organization can use its title and classification as a tax-exempt nonprofit to convince people to donate their money without being transparent about how the donations are used. This touches on the question of why they were able to get away with this for ten years? How did no one in their community notice? If millions of dollars are being poured into this organization, but only about $17,000 is being spit back out towards services, how did no one do the math for so long? Does the regulating of nonprofits need to be strengthened?

Personally, I am grateful to hear this organization is being dissolved because one illegitimate nonprofit can easily hurt the public opinion of the rest of the sector. It could potentially cause a ripple effect of decreased donations because citizens may become cautious to donate if they do not feel their resources are being used appropriately.

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This week we dove into the topic of social justice, which some define as fulfilling basic needs and improving equality for all. While this may sound like a large task, there are steps to take that can guide our country in the right direction. One way to achieve social justice is through education and the Yale School of Art hopes to do just that. 

By exploring and researching the connection of art and social engagement, the new programs, put forth thanks to a generous donation from a Yale alum, plan to bridge the gap of equality among members of society. Marta Kuzma, the dean of the Yale School of Art, describes their main goal as breaking down obstacles so that no personal or social circumstances stand in the way of anyone receiving a graduate level education. 

Within my understanding of charity and philanthropy, I would categorize this donation and program as philanthropy. They are focusing on long term goals to create effects that answer the question of why some struggle to have the opportunity for an education. They are going beyond simply providing funding to students. They are also providing resources for research on the social justice topic and facilitating tough conversations to give people a voice. 

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This is not for my weekly posts, but I used this blog in my Reading Synthesis paper this week. I wanted to share it on here to make it easier for any classmates interested in reading it. 

Enjoy! :)

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“Do museums have a responsibility to reckon with the source of a donor’s wealth?”

Just like a coin, there are two sides to everything. The Sackler family have been one of the largest benefactors for the museum world, specifically in the arts and culture sector. However, no one has truly questioned where they earn their funds to make such large contributions - until now. 

America was recently declared to have a public health emergency by President Trump and his administration due to an opioid crisis. This public statement has opened the eyes of many US citizens as to where the opioids have come from. Trump stated in his speech that a majority of them are coming from south of our border, but the drugs actually originated right on our own soil. The Purdue Pharma company created and sold Oxycontin, the main ingredient in Opioids, on a mass scale to medical practitioners across the country in a illegal miss-branding campaign. They have already paid a substantial sum in fines for this situation, however it did not prevent the drug from being served out into our population. 

Ingeniously, the family never connected their name to the pharmaceutical company, but after some digging into the facts of where these drugs have been coming from due to the increase media pressure, the family are now under fire. What does this mean for nonprofits? Well, the museum world has many galleries, buildings, collections, etc., thanks to donations by the Sackler family. Some of the largest, most prominent art museums in the world have received money from them. Is it acceptable for these museums to keep the family’s name on their buildings and donor lists? Or, will it hurt their reputation to be affiliated with the family after the new information has come to light? I feel this is a great example of the dark side of philanthropy and the tough decisions nonprofits have to face when it comes to donor relations. 

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I became pulled into this article by the following thought - since when should it be illegal to decide how someone spends their money?

In Fayetteville, the city council is working to bestow consequences on town citizens if they are caught giving money to panhandlers. Panhandlers are defined as people who unlawfully beg. The people are considered to be breaking the law if they beg within restricted areas as stated in a past city ordinance. What if they beg in an unrestricted area? Then are they still panhandlers or are they simply community members asking for help? No matter where your opinion lies on this difference of titles, I think we can all agree that there is an issue here. 

This article nicely reflects our discussion this week on charity versus justice. If the city and community focus solely on whether or not these people should be allowed to ask for money and whether or not people can give them money, then it is a charity case. However, if the city can broaden their views out from this narrow topic, they could realize that the concept of giving money is not the main point. Instead, maybe the city should begin to consider how they can help the panhandlers to stop begging by asking them what they truly need. Do they just need the money? Do they need help gaining skills to earn and hold a job? Maybe they need assistance with their credit to get approved for an apartment? 

This is a larger issue than where someone is allowed to ask for money and who is allowed to meet this request. It could be interesting to find out the results the council would get if they went out and spoke openly with the people begging to find out why they feel the need to ask for help and what kind of help they specifically need. 

The article ends with a reference to the panhandlers being within their first amendment rights to voice their request for help. #fyi

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As the holidays approach, organizations see an increase in volunteering. There seems to be something in the air that triggers the need to help the less-fortunate, but the questions of why they volunteer and where they volunteer are always intriguing to track. 

“Stephanie Denning, an ESRC-funded PhD student in the University of Bristol’s School of Geographical Sciences, conducted the research over a three-year period, analysing the experiences of the people who volunteered with a MakeLunch project.”

The study here found a variety of reasons for volunteering at the MakeLunch project including, but not limited to, religious callings, political frustrations, and poverty concerns. From the LeRoux and Feeney reading this week, we discussed three motivations for volunteering - altruism, egoism, and coercive. I see mostly altruism in the group of volunteers based on the information provided, but there is a hint of egoism as well. The general concerns for others in food poverty areas reflect altruism because the volunteers simply want to help those that are affected. The egoism shines through the emotional responses to political happenings. These volunteers are looking for an outlet away from negative political events, hence they are openly searching for something in return for volunteering. 

Another section in the study can be linked to LeRoux and Feeney’s discussion of finding the right fit for volunteers within an organization. Denning gives advice to the organization that they need to focus on making volunteers feel comfortable, welcome, useful, etc., in order to maintain them long-term. LeRoux and Feeney touch on this by establishing the need for volunteer positions to align with the person’s needs, goals, and interests. Volunteers leave positions if they feel underappreciated or if they are not able to utilize their skills and abilities. 

If the MakeLunch project heeds the advice and suggestions that Denning has provided, then I have no doubt they will have a successful holiday giving season. 

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In this week’s reading by Guo and Brown, they discussed factors influencing performance of foundations. They were interested in environmental factors that drive performance. The article described how their study used the following variables for examining foundation performance: fiscal efficiency, grant-making performance, density, size, age, service area, board performance, and percentage of unrestricted funds. While these are the obvious choices for variables in a study, it is interesting to look a bit farther. 

This article discusses a new way for foundations to measure their performance. Foundations in Minnesota are gaining helpful feedback from past and present applicants to their grants through a website called Grant Advisor. Organizations benefiting from a foundation’s funds are able to go to GrantAdvisor.org and complete reviews about the foundation. They are invited to discuss anything about the foundation. This may include the grant application process, the funds tracking requirements, or the grantor-grantee communications. Once a foundation has received five reviews, they are invited to join the website as well. They have the option to respond to the reviews, whether they be good or bad ones. 

The article discusses that while many foundations are positively using the new feedback, others are not too keen on the idea. Personally, I think listening to feedback and suggestions from organizations involved with a foundation is a unique source of measurement to rate how well the foundation is serving their community. 

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This is my favorite article I have found so far this semester! I do not often view water as a necessity that is hard to come by in my life, so reading about how different cultures value water was very eye opening. Thanks to funding from a community grant program, Tualatin Riverkeepers, a non-profit organization, will be creating murals to express these values. While reading about the project and organization, I found myself recognizing that the organization is playing many of the roles we discussed in class this week. 

The most prominent role is values expression. Typically, their message is “whatever goes down this drain ends up in our river and streams.” The mural project hopes to expand this message with a more compelling focus on cultural significance throughout the community. Washington County, the location of the project, has seen an increase in the Latino and Muslim communities, so the organization hopes to use these murals to make their new community members feel at home. 

Another significant role the project incorporates is innovation. “We’ll be encouraging the artists, whether they’re from Bolivia or Somalia, [from] some water-stressed regions if they want to incorporate part of their own personal journey here to Oregon, and what was water like over there,” Skuja said, “and then what do they think about water here in Oregon.” This quote explains how the project leaders are giving potential artists creative freedom and artistic expression. I hope to follow this project and see what the artists create. 

The other roles the organization is incorporating are social capital and civic engagement. They are promoting a sense of community among their residents and organizing focus on a social issue. 

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Homelessness is a social issue we see all around us, especially in urban areas. The economic shifts throughout the years cause financial problems for low-income renters, which can lead to homelessness. The imbalance of power between a landlord and a tenant further contributes to the threat of becoming homeless. New York chose to pass a law that will provide free legal services to people facing eviction that fall below the following threshold - $49,000 annually for a family of four. The law will be phased into existence over a five year period. 

In the article, Steven Banks stated, “To spend a couple of thousand dollars to provide legal services versus tens of thousands of dollars to provide shelter makes this a very good investment.” 

Many advocacy nonprofits have supported this law, including PolicyLink and Right to the City. This issue has even grown into a movement, often referred to as “Renter Nation.” The movement has brought together advocacy nonprofit organizations and traditional housing advocacy and fair housing organizations. They don’t discuss whether coalitions have been formed, but after our discussions in class this week, it sounds to me like they are on their way to becoming one. 

In addition to the nonprofits using their advocacy powers to support this movement, they are also helping promote a way to solve a government failure. It was mentioned that Mayor de Blaiso has failed thus far in providing more affordable housing options in the city, which was a major focus of his election campaign. With advocacy nonprofits using their resources to create a voice in this social movement, the government has been able to get a law passed. Now they just need to successfully implement it, which could prove to be difficult. I suppose we will have to wait and see what happens. If this legislation and movement are successful, hopefully cities in other regions of the U.S., such as Indianapolis, will follow in their footsteps. 

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When you drop a stone in a pond, it creates a ripple effect across the water. As luck would have it, Google caused a positive ripple effect by simply taking photographs. They unknowingly helped support a campaign to decrease asthma attacks in children. The photographs gave way for members from the Greensboro Housing Coalition and the Greensboro Center for Housing and Community studies to complete extensive research on how the poor living conditions in local neighborhoods could negatively affect a child’s health. As data was analyzed, funds began to grow through donations and community support began to organize through advocacy. Residents from the targeted neighborhoods are now coming together to help and continue resource growth and data research to hopefully fix their community’s health. 

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One of the largest and most influential networks in the world is Facebook. It has been revealed that Russia used this social network to disrupt American democracy. They purchased hundreds of thousands of dollars in ads through fake accounts that  “micro-targeted Americans based on their divisions along political, racial, and religious line” during the 2016 presidential election. They specifically targeted network users from Michigan and Wisconsin, which makes me wonder if I was personally affected by these ads without my knowledge seeing as I am from Michigan. The reason they chose Facebook for their scheme is because it is a superb platform for citizens to share social capital. This article discusses a potential way for Facebook to use its resources to empower social capital bridging. Social capital bonding is already proven to happen naturally through social media, but needs to be pushed more into bridging if they wish to facilitate discussions between users with different political beliefs.