| Dear
Friend,
What
obligations do we have as leaders in the nonprofit sector have
to society? I am constantly amazed at the enormous amount of
money Americans contribute to nonprofit organizations every
year and the extraordinary number of hours they volunteer to
help those organizations provide services. What do we owe you
for this generosity and the trust that you place in us?
Philanthropy’s
special role in society is formalized in a social contract that
exempts it from paying taxes but in return, expects good works.
Because we don’t have to sell product, get elected, or pay shareholders,
nonprofits are uniquely positioned to initiate thought and action,
experiment with new and untried ventures, dissent from prevailing
attitudes, and act quickly, flexibly, and fearlessly.
These
ideas reminded me that donors are motivated by many factors;
matters of both the heart and the head. From an economic viewpoint,
philanthropy is a set of transactions between donors and nonprofit
institutions. Donors have philanthropic objectives as well as
resource constraints. Sometimes they even choose among competing
nonprofit organizations to maximize results and achieve objectives.
For
many of you, philanthropy creates meaning and value for you
as donors while validating the missions of nonprofit institutions.
You have a moral biography that shapes your giving within cultural
paradigms such as institutional loyalty, giving back, helping
the less fortunate, and addressing critical problems. Every
nonprofit has a responsibility to their donors. I’ve always
liked the term “social contract”. When political theorists first
introduced this concept, they were referring to the role of
the individual within a society. But it’s a nice term to describe
the relationship between The Family Giving Tree and you. The
relationship implies a contract, a quid pro quo: we’ll provide
public services if you agree to support us.
Today,
however, I think society expects more of us: donors of all types
want assurance not only that we are taking action but that we’ll
be forthright in reporting how we spend their money and whether
we’re using it effectively. That is certainly our aim. We adhere
to a strict “Code of Ethics”, issue an easy to understand Annual
Report and send out e-newsletters twelve times per year. We
are listed with GuideStar.org where you will find our Federal
form 990. We also welcome inquiries regarding what we do, why
we do it, how we do it, what it costs and the results of our
efforts.
Comments
of Bob Ottenhoff, CEO, GuideStar and Bernadine Joselyn from
the Blandin Foundation, edited by Bob Cullenbine, CFO, Family
Giving Tree.
The
Family Giving Tree Privacy Policy:
The
Family Giving Tree believes in protecting our contact's privacy.
Therefore we do not lend, sell or rent mailing lists of our
donors or participants, so you never have to worry that your
name, address, phone number and credit card information would
ever be used outside of our organization.
Please
contact us if you have any questions/concerns.
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