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Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNewsArchivesSource Manager's Journal: Sounding the Alarm About Non-Profits

Source Manager's Journal: Sounding the Alarm About Non-Profits

In 1962, a systems theorist named Herman Kahn wrote Thinking About the Unthinkable, a book intended to make nuclear war more thinkable. We have recently learned that, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, it had become a lot more thinkable than most American realized. Forty years ago, the "big three" automakers were the dominant force in American industry. A world without Ford, General Motors and Chrysler was unthinkable. Today, these companies' disappearance is not only thinkable, but distinctly possible.
Non-profit organizations play a critical role in American life. In basic ways, they are what make the United States different from other societies. This unique quality was noted by Tocqueville as far back as the early days of the republic. In places like the Virgin Islands and many American cities, places with high levels of poverty and social need, they play a particularly important — if often underestimated — role. To many, the disappearance of a big chunk of the non-profit sector would also be unthinkable. But is it?
Let's look at some current realities. Non-profit organizations are financed from a variety of sources. These include government contracts, foundation and corporate grants, individual giving and earned income. In many instances, especially for smaller community agencies, there is no endowment or rainy-day fund to provide a cushion in bad times. For most non-profits, funding from all sources is drying up. And, even in "good" times, many of these organizations live an essentially hand-to-mouth existence.
Our economy is hemorrhaging jobs at an accelerating rate. The jobs discussion is usually shaped by a set of assumptions that reflect our recent era of hostility to government and the elevation of private business to the level of a religion. The two central assumptions are that private-sector employment constitutes "real" jobs, while (non-military) government jobs are "wasteful spending."
Typically non-profit jobs are left out of this mix, even though there are approximately 13 million of them. When the non-profit sector is discussed, it is typically in oblique and disparaging terms. The recent discussion has been framed by (mostly) Southern conservatives who were seeking to discredit a stimulus package that they could not defeat. To paraphrase a typical comment, in the current environment we can no longer afford to appropriate money for museums, aquariums and "social spending," each of which may be nice, but all of which are non-essential.
A great danger is that we are about to inadvertently test the notion that non-profit organizations and the services that they provide are not essential to our communities. Certainly our children and communities can survive without arts and cultural programming. And because they don't belong to any of these groups, the majority of the population can also get along without services for battered women, supportive housing for the disabled, equity initiatives for disadvantaged children, after-school programs for young people, "re-entry" programs for men and women leaving institutions, food pantries and other "non-essential" services. We know they are non-essential in a primitive sense, because some states have already led the way in creating societies with few of these services. A core question is: Do we really want to emulate these shameful models everywhere?
The reality is that these are essential services. And, while they may not be as visible as police, fire or sanitation, losing them on a large scale will have a profound effect on our communities. At a time when we as a nation need to become more competitive, we will become less so. But more important, we will become less human. We will begin to fulfill former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's barren vision that there are no communities, only markets.
At the end of previous, far milder recessions, non-profits emerged in three clusters. Those in group one didn't make it and are now out of business. The second group has survived but became ineffectual. Of them, it is sometimes said, "They used to be an excellent agency." A sad indictment. In the third cluster were those that made difficult choices and also remained solidly connected to their mission and values. It is becoming increasingly clear that even these exemplary organizations are in jeopardy in the current environment.
Finding solutions is not simple. In part, it involves getting public money to the most effective and most threatened in a relatively short period of time. The governor's mention of non-profits in his stimulus message was a very hopeful sign. Foundations, despite portfolio losses, must step up and find creative mechanisms to help their grantees manage the crisis. In some instances, this will involve brokering arrangements for cost-cutting that does not compromise quality or damage the organization. For example, multiple organizations could share certain overhead functions. And wealthy individuals, who have played an increasingly important funding role in recent years, must continue to support this sector if it is going to make it.
The first President Bush coined the term "a thousand points of light." It was a way for him to show that he "cared" without spending any money. The metaphor, however, was an apt one. Non-profits do a lot of different things, but probably most important, they are the source of hope and opportunity for those who are marginalized, disadvantaged and vulnerable. In many instances, when non-profits fail or disappear, there is no one to pick up the burden. But, unlike a major corporate failure, there is no big bang. Instead, many points of light will flicker and go out on St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John and all over the country. Most of these will be largely unnoticed by the general public, but their cumulative impact will be substantial. There is a lot at stake here, and the clock is ticking.
Editor's note: Schneiger is president of the Human Services Management Institute. He is the author of Managing in Hard Times: A Planning Guide and Tool Kit for Non-Profit Leaders (2009).

Editor's note: We welcome and encourage readers to keep the dialogue going by responding to Source commentary. Letters should be e-mailed with name and place of residence to visource@gmail.com.

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