Today the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported on a seemingly provocative comments from the head of the Wal-Mart Foundation, Margaret McKenna. According to the Boston Herald, she said some charities should fail.
I whole heartedly agree. Some nonprofits should fail. Just like some businesses should fail.
Aren’t you tired of receiving fundraising appeals with a message of “If you don’t give now, we won’t survive”?
Pathetic, isn’t it?
The Chronicle reports:
“The argument that ‘our organization will go out of business’ doesn’t resonate with me,” said Ms. McKenna. What does resonate, she said, is, “Our population will not be served.”
Please take this to heart. Fundraising should never be to pay the bills. It should always be about the people we serve.
As you write your year end appeals, make sure your messaging is about who you serve. In uncertain economic times like ours, nonprofits are need more than ever because people are in need more than ever.
Focus on those people. Not on your organization’s survival.
Most of the time, in economic crisis times, the organization should reduce costs and focus on the projects, so that lines make me lot of sense.
Gonzalo
Nice play on words Ms. McKenna. This is typical of the foundation crowd; a condescending attitude coupled with playful semantics. If the organization fails then the population is less likely to be served.
I agree with the premise that begging should be avoided. Focus on the message but understand that there are organizations on the brink of extinction due to the current economic climate.
Frankly, I don’t recall the last time I received such an appeal. And I agree with the commenter at the CoP website who said the Herald’s headline was misleading. It is, in fact, not what McKenna said — but one needs to read the entire article to determine that. McKenna focuses on the strength of collaboration ? which is best for communities in any economic climate. But that requires a submerging of one’s ego. No wonder so few NPO leaders are reluctant to try this strategy.
Thanks for the comments, Greg and JT.
I’m intrigued, do you think there really is too much overlap in nonprofits?
Each organization has it’s own ideas for fundraising. And each founder can reach a certain subset of the populations.
So wouldn’t collaboration dilute that effectiveness?