MESSAGE
| DATE | 2003-02-23 |
| FROM | Ruben I Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [hangout] Non-Profit
|
I'm happy to say that NYLXS hasn't functioned like this
at all. Our organization has a long record of accomplishements,
mostly done without much economic benifit to members.
In fact, our members have been loosing money in order to
keep our programs afloat. This was one of the reasons for
NYLXS having an emergency meeting. We need to put ourselves
in a position to pay our people for much of the work in
preparing and organizing our organizational efforts.
Marco sent the link for that organization to teach us
how to raise money. Perhaps now is the time for people
to step forward and aprach them. Any other fund raising
tricks we can learn would be much apreciated, and the sooner
the better.
Ruben
On 2003.02.23 19:05 Dave Williams wrote:
>
> You should repost this to Hangout.
>
> Ruben
>
> On 2003.02.21 19:21 Dave Williams wrote:
> > Hi Ruben -
> >
> > I thought I would share my memories of working for a non-profit
> > organization, just to give you some idea of what you might be able to
> > expect. For the record, I believe there is a difference between
> > "non-profit" and "not-for-profit" -- they are classified under a
> > different code number and mean different things, unless I'm mistaken.
> >
> > Regardless, a long time ago I worked as the office manager for a small
> > non-profit office in central Virginia, the National Kidney Foundation of
> > Virginia. What I observed was that they were authorized to use a form
> > of bookkeeping known as "functionalized accounting". By this it seems
> > that they could describe their assets and liabilities based upon the
> > "function" they performed -- for example, "Patient Services" or
> > "Community Education". Many of these categories are total abstractions,
> > and although the organization was required to hire an auditor every so
> > often, no CPA who examined the books ever complained about the use of
> > these categories or examined their application closely.
> >
> > I bring this up because the NKF-VA was doing virtually nothing to help
> > dialysis patients, and the majority of their expenses were actually
> > re-classified employee bonuses and benefits. All perfectly legal,
> > apparently. I could have an expensive lunch with someone and just talk
> > about helping Kidney patients and that was good enough for the
> > accountants. This is nothing new, of course.
> >
> > What the NKF-VA actually did was provide information (little pamphlets)
> > and help connect patients to the different dialysis centers. Every now
> > and then they would give a small grant to a local center, amidst much
> > fanfare and local publicity. They also had a program for issuing small
> > grants to patients in need, such as for car repairs to help them get to
> > a clinic. I'm talking really small here, like around $300 tops.
> >
> > How did they get money in the first place? Well, as an extension of a
> > national organization (a franchise, really) they had obligations to the
> > main organization and would get some funds from them occasionally. And
> > of course as a non-profit any donations made to them were tax
> > deductible. They had an office in a small office-park, and they had all
> > they supplies they needed (stationary, postage, etc.). They had a
> > public relations director who made a nice salary, an office manager who
> > did okay (me), a development director who lived comfortably, and a
> > director who really made a nice living out of it. They had a board of
> > directors, many of whom were businessmen involved in the local banking
> > industry (Richmond has a Federal Reserve, and that's about all it has
> > besides tobacco, aluminum and Chap-Stick).
> >
> > Donations from individuals didn't amount to much; it's the local
> > businesses that really pump in the capital. To do this several annual
> > high-profile events were held, such as a "chocolate festival" at a local
> > mall that got all over the local news, or an amateur golf-tournament
> > sponsored by Cadillac. Everyone who participated in these events could
> > write off their expenses, and all money made beyond the basic expenses
> > went to the organization. The board members gained prestige by being
> > behind the high-profile events, and possibly other advantages I wasn't
> > aware of.
> >
> > But the real cash cow was something else entirely, and it's a program
> > used by several health-related non-profits (such as the American Cancer
> > Society). It's the "Donate your old/totaled car program", the one where
> > you can call a number and a tow truck driver will cart off your old
> > car. Then the non-profit's representative at the parts yard will send
> > you a form acknowledging the donation. The non-profit will send you a
> > quote from a recent Kelly Blue Book for your vehicle, but they leave the
> > amount you claim for the value entirely up to you. When you file your
> > taxes you can say that your old Nova was worth $3000, and deduct that if
> > it helps you.
> >
> > The parts yard sells the car for parts, until nothing is left and they
> > sell the cubed remains for scrap. They make a nice profit off of the
> > parts, and occasionally they get a nice old car in decent shape. For
> > that they have an annual donated car auction. The parts yard keeps a
> > percentage of the sales, and keeps track of all the donated cars in a
> > database. They cut a check each month to the non-profit, based on their
> > part of that month's sales. In a large, well-run program this is where
> > the serious change comes in. The IRS can't hold a person to the amount
> > they claim for the donation because odds are the car is still sitting in
> > the yard being cannibalized.
> >
> > Between the fast-and-loose nature of functionalized accounting and the
> > legal scams for financing these organizations, I developed a bad
> > impression of charities. Especially when you consider how little they
> > do to actually help the cause the represent. A small amount of money
> > was earmarked for research donations each year, but it wouldn't make a
> > dent in the fight against kidney failure.
> >
> > Anyway, I hope that's informative. Being a non-profit can be a license
> > to print money if you do it correctly. In central Virginia a small
> > handful of dialysis patients would get the occasional bit of pocket
> > change, while the director of the NKF lived well, got a lot of local
> > press, and had a lot of nice dinners.
> >
> > - Dave
>
> ____________________________
> NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
> Fair Use -
> because it's either fair use or useless....
> NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
>
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____________________________
NYLXS: New Yorker Free Software Users Scene
Fair Use -
because it's either fair use or useless....
NYLXS is a trademark of NYLXS, Inc
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