There is a much stronger emphasis on impact and philanthropy- Really believing in what you do and doing as much as you can to make a difference. The authors emphasize that not all of these organizations are going to impact a huge number of people, but this does not mean that they are less important. Some of these organizations help people that would definitely not be able to get what they need otherwise.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Believing in What You Do
While doing the readings for this week, I found myself thinking about some of our discussions from last week regarding accountability. A lot of that discussion seemed to be discouraging because of the often burdening factors associated with accountability. This week, there was a more positive spin on the social change aspect. While discussing the extraordinary people who lead meaningful nonprofit organizations the authors of the Forces for Good text say, "They don't want simply to apply social Band-Aids, but rather to attack and eliminate the root causes of social ills." (p. 24)
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Hi Sheri,
ReplyDeleteI agree that an organization can make an important impact, even if the impact doesn't affect thousands of people. I think the idea that an organization's work should result in some sort of long-term improvement for its target population is becoming more wide-spread throughout the sector, which is a great thing.
My Capstone has to do with the United Way's transition from a system of being strictly a "funder," to one where they also work to solve communities' underlying problems and help strengthen their areas. This represents a much greater responsibility for the organization, but it also means that it will have a greater impact.
I also found the past discussions on accountability to be discouraging. However, I did learn a valuable lesson about accountability and the nonprofit. I learned that politics are involved in nonprofits more than most would think.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree that this week's reading on nonprofit advocacy was uplifting. Nonprofit advocacy is my area of interest. I was pleased by both readings' discussions on effective nonprofits participation in advocacy. For instance, I never heard of 'nonprofit lobbying'. I have heard of nonprofit advocacy but not nonprofit lobbying. Avner did mention the negative connotation attach to lobbying as those of us who follow politics are aware of.Has the public's negative view on lobbying influenced the public's view of nonprofits?