We recently watched a Ted Talk in class with Dan
Pallotta, an activist and fundraiser, who has created many charities and raised
millions of dollars for those charities. It was about the double standards that
are held for non-profit organizations compared to the rest of the economic
world. It was surprising to me that I had never considered of some of the
points that brought up throughout the talk. It definitely made me think of
philanthropy in a whole new light.
I realized that every time I have heard about an
organization giving only a portion of the money raised towards the actual cause it
would upset me, just as it upsets many others. If I would have thought to
consider what goes into running non-profit organizations, such as paying the employees,
maintaining the work space, and advertisement, I may not have judged certain
organizations so harshly. That’s what you get when you take things as they are
and do not question them. Sadly, there are plenty of people who do not think to
fact check what is being told to them, with me included. This is why it is extremely
important that we keep ourselves informed and educated on serious issues such
as this one. It becomes increasingly difficult to move forward if you do not
constantly think of things in a different perspective.
Where would we be if we never thought to question
what was being told to us?
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pallotta_the_way_we_think_about_charity_is_dead_wrong.html
Observation:
I was asked to donate to the children last week at Subway.
Observation:
I was asked to donate to the children last week at Subway.
I agree with you that the way we look at non-profits is problematic to organizational growth and therefor makes it harder to actively work at solving social problems. I think another important question to raise is the way we think about and value social work and education in our society, and how business and profit seems to be more important and more widely valued.
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