I think it is a mixed blessing that Non-profits are under such strict scrutiny by the government. After listening to last weeks lecture it was obvious that there is a huge amount of red tape associated with Non-profits that the public does not usually hear of. The scrutiny associated with Non-profits seems to be affecting the effectiveness of what these organizations are trying to do. Although I believe that all organizations or corporations’ should come under some amount of inquiry it is a shame when they reduce the potential of the agency to promote a greater good, especially a good for a society as a whole. Dan Pallota discusses this in his blog. He talks about how there is a serious disconnect in values behind giving as well as the inefficiencies behind evaluating non-profit organizations. Pallota makes a good point that we are measuring effectiveness rather than measuring a commitment to effectiveness. He suggests the current system of measuring effectiveness if causing good organizations to be penalized while mediocre ones are left alone. Not only are the restrictions imposed on these restrictions ineffective but also imbalanced in comparison with each other.
I found it interesting to see that some private foundations and charities come under stricter restriction on those for-profit agencies. This seems strange to me that a organization who’s main goal is to benefit others with taking no profit for themselves should have more regulations than organizations or corporations that sole purpose is to increase their bottom line. I think this is a perfect example of why things just don’t work out well in this country when it comes to the well being of our nation. As a society we put too much emphasis on economic health than on the health of our citizens. In my public health class we have talked about how there are two different types of philosophies concerning health. The one that leans toward an egalitarian society, suggesting all citizens are equal in all economic resources, or the free market approach, which encourages a welfare safety net. In the free market approach charities and philanthropy organizations are absolutely necessary. That is why is amazes me that are government suggests personal effort and voluntary behavior, concerning health services, but makes it incredibly arduous for voluntary organizations to carry out their work in an efficient and effective way.
Charities are effective by government in so many ways. In the blog titles “Estate Tax & Charitable Giving” the author suggests that the massive decrease in the estate tax imposed on the wealthy will have impacts on charitable giving. I would argue that it would severely reduce the amount donated because with donations being tax deductible it would be a way for the rich to maximize there money without giving it all to taxes but with the new lowering of the estate tax it won’t be such an issue. Wealthy individuals will be able to keep more of their money, which interestingly enough does not increase, their charitable donations.
It seems as though the non-profit sector could use a little political help but I don’t think we’ll be seeing that anytime soon with the restrictions places on them concerning political activity…
I definitely agree with what you said about our society putting too much emphasis on how our economy is doing instead of what state the majority of its citizens are doing. More often now with consumerism becoming even more apart of our lives, people are growing more concerned with just themselves and making as much money for themselves and are disconnected from the rest of society. These corporations from which we buy products from but also exploit many people should be held to more responsibility and more scrutiny should be placed on them instead of organizations like you were saying just want to help people.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about too much red tape for NGO's. If only industries like wall street has the same government regulation that NGO's do, we would be living in a different economy. I think that there is far to much bureaucracy for NGO's I would think that this could make it really difficult for startups to gain momentum and expand into successfully functioning organizations.
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised to learn about how closely nonprofits are monitored. From the paperwork they must fill out to the monitoring of employee's income it seems like a little too much. I feel like it could be a little disheartening to know that while you are working very hard, others out there who do not work as hard will be getting a holiday bonus or they will make more money than you because there is not a law stating how much they can make in their sector. It really never seems possible that the for profits and the nonprofits will be able to function similarly and for the most part that is a good thing. But there are always things that can change and improve, so maybe one day NGO's will have more freedom in their business.
ReplyDelete