Cornithaca County

“Fundraising Professional’s Motto” Sampler

Here are some other thoughts on non-profits: • Fundraisers act as if there is an endless sea of giving. The greater likelihood is that there is a limited pool of giving, and the more non-profits with highly paid fundraisers and staffing, and expensive administration and fundraising programs are successful, the more of that limited pool is used for “overhead.” This leads to a cycle where those who distribute the highest percentage of the funding they receive to the needy are increasingly disadvantaged in raising those funds. Historically, 100% of charitable contributions were distributed locally, by non-paid volunteers, to those in the community whose needs were known — charities are changing from a way of living, to way of making a living. • Should a Food Pantry that raises much more funding than it needs, bank the excess? • Should two charitable organizations with the same mission, and overlapping outreach, merge together and reduce costs for the benefit of the needy? • How long and how much money should the search for a cure consume before it becomes sensible to apply that funding to a more successful area? • Do people who make large salaries working for non-profits have any more inner goodness than those in other occupations?