Nature of Giving
pic by veggie trader
Most non-profits depend on government funds to support their operations and pay for their overhead. Government organizations which provide the funding for these non-profits are constantly struggling with the need to purchase services in the most efficient, cost effective manner possible. Often larger non-profits are able to offer the efficiency and cost effectiveness the government is looking for and at times government has defaulted to the larger organizations. However, there is a level of government that realizes that as a donor to a cause that looking for more than just efficiency of over head is important to reach the intended cause. They are also concerned about quality of care issues and being able to fairly reach the intended communities. Small non-profits are typically focused on a small, specific segment of the population, which naturally lends itself to a high quality of care or reaching more diverse communities.
The nature of giving by a donor is personal and their reasoning to give to a cause need not be scientific. However, the nonprofit should be expected to quantify its intended approach with goals, objectives and measures for the intended cause. A nonprofit being able to clearly show how it intends to be held accountable goes a long way in the providing assurances in philanthropic giving by donors to continue to support the nonprofit. If nonprofits do not post how they spend their money or funnel it to another organization in lump sums without designating the funds, that is not a accountable nonprofit to give to.
