NonprofitEye

Whistle-Blowing - Keep it in Perspective by pam ashlund I want you to get up right now, sit up, go to your windows, open them and stick your head out and yell - ' I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore! ' Things have got to change. But first, you've gotta get mad!... You've got to say, 'I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!' Then we'll figure out what to do about the depression and the inflation and the oil crisis. But first get up out of your chairs, open the window, stick your head out, and yell, and say it! -- Howard Beale during his nervous breakdown, Network, 1976 I've blogged about whistleblowing, about fraud detection, about Enron, about Sarbanes Oxley...for gods sake I've blogged about blogging! I've pondered the subject from many an angle and then...I lost interest. Why? Because there's only so much to say. Hey, somebody does something wrong, somebody else tells on them. Then?...

Government Funding for Nonprofits: Don't Eat Your Young by pam ashlund It's like a jungle, sometimes it makes me wonder How I keep from going under -- Grand Master Flash I have a bad feeling. The same bad feeling I had when I heard about the Homeland Security Act, or the infamous "weapons of mass destruction" speech. My spidey-sense is screaming "Something is going horribly wrong with Nonprofit Accountability". I'm not usually a trend watcher, but me thinks I smell a trend. Seems the fall-out from Enron and Sarbanes-Oxley has finally hit the nonprofit sector. Visits from individual government funding sources are on the rise. OMB A-133 was supposed to protect nonprofit agencies with multiple funding sources from being drowned in a wave of audits. One "Single Agency-wide Audit" would keep everybody happy. Ha! Government agencies found a loop-hole. "We aren't doing an audit, we're just doing a fiscal review". At last count one o...

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery? or Great Minds Think Alike? by pam ashlund Karl Jung had a theory about why people all seem to have the same myths and dreams, even people and cultures that have no contact with each other. He called it the collective unconscious. It still gets called psuedo-science by some. Today I'm wondering.... In my spare time I write another blog about life in my neighborhood in North East LA. I've had a series of surreal experiences there lately. One: a coyote sighting in front of my apartment and another: coming across a red flashing sign advertising the LA Coroners office. Three weeks after writing about my experience I noticed two other nonprofit bloggers writing about the same thing. I jumped to the conclusion that this was a case of copycat-itis. That was, until...a friend said "I think I read that somewhere else". I looked around and low and behold, one of the most popular blogs (if not THE most popular blog) Boing Boing...

Faith in Social Change? by pam ashlund Let's face it, so much of the nonprofit world has its foundation in activism. Not counting such venerable institutions as the Red Cross and the YMCA, so many nonprofits were born in the '60's & '70's. It's always struck me as odd that the very reasons people are motivated to create change, are the same reasons that make them vulnerable to attack. I presume that were government funding not involved, none of this would have been an issue. Where did we get this idea that neutrality of ideas was a prerequisite for the use of public monies? Ironically, this notion was successfully challenged by faith-based organizations. It's gone in and out of vogue, but in some years pushing a religious agenda, requiring a prayer for service, would exclude an organization from the use of federal funds. Politics found a way to justify this. At the same time that the faith-based organization was placed squarely on the legitimate table, n...

Where in the (nonprofit) World Are You: What Google Analytics Tells Us by pam ashlund Willkommen, Velkommen , Welkom , Bienvenue , Beinvenidos , Benvenuto, Bonvenon, Kalosorisate, Vitame Vas ,Vitejte, Woezor, Akwaaba, Kalos ilthate, E komo mai Swaa-gat hai , Selamat Datang, Cead Mile Failte , Failte romhat, Kia Ora , Dzieñ dobry, Bem Vinda, Muito Bem Vindo, Multumesc, Greuz i, Mabuhay, Akwaaba, Laskavo prosymo, Hush kelibsiz, Dobrodosli Where in the world are readers of the Nonprofit Eye visiting from? Here are the stats: US 1771 93% Canada 52 3% UK 35 2% India 12 1% Australia 8 Ireland 8 Spain 7 Singapore 7 Malaysia 7 Technorati Tags: Google Analytics , Nonprofit

We've talked about the scary repercussions of trying to reach unrealistically high performance measures before.... I just came across an article that's apparently been around since 2003, How I Cooked the Books and Why . Written under the pseudonym "Phil Anthrop" (which is funny by itself), Phil tells the harrowing tale of good values going horribly wrong. I highly recommend this article to anyone managing nonprofit service contracts. Maybe when our funders ask us to meet some unreasonable metrics we should all just quote Nancy Reagan and "just say no." After all the same contracts require compliance with the Drug Free Workplace Act (product from the same administration). The article comes from a back issue of the Nonprofit Quarterly (which I am obliged to plug once again). Please be assured that no payment has been received for this nod (and I have no financial interest, etc)! I just love and admire that rag. Further reading from the " Eye ": ...

Council on Foundations Call for Comments message brought to you by pam ashlund This just in: The Council on Foundations and 2007 conference partner, Philanthropy Northwest, invite you to participate in their second Call for Comments. Share your thoughts on four big issues: Combating Poverty Ensuring Public Health Protecting the Environment Preparing for and Responding to Disasters Foundation leaders and other experts are working to assemble content-rich programming that will examine these challenges and identify solutions and promising practices. This Call for Comments will allow you to learn as well as contribute information that can be shared with others. You're invited to learn more about these issues and join the conversation. Register for the 58th Annual Conference , April 29 - May 1, 2007 in Seattle, Washington. Attend Pre-conference events planned specifically for foundation leaders and trustees. Also special programming that will take place on April 28th and May 2nd, so if ...

Does the LA Coroner Need Money? by Pam Ashlund Back in December I wrote a post on Earned Income Strategies for Nonprofits addressing the topic from a philosophical point of view; but looking back it seems too abstract. It's time to talk hands-on people! Sometimes it's hard to get your mind around the idea of nonprofits running money making enterprises. In the first place, we aren't in business to make money; in the second place, how could we make money and still fulfill our mission? It all sounds like one of those loopholes that is too good to be true. Make money and fullfill your mission? Since income that is unrelated to your purpose is taxable, it follows that there must be the concept of "related" income. If we can't make money on our own, are we doomed to live at the whim of government funding or continue begging for change from our ever more impatient patrons? How many foundations offer funding to start up or build capacity? Many. How many offer funding...