Poverty mentality: it has to changeOrganizations in the social impact sector work to change the world. Every day. Some work with the most marginalized and forgotten people, others save the environment, create life-changing art, take care of our health and save animals. Pretty important stuff. Why, then, are they expected to constantly beg for their funds? They are having a huge impact in all of our lives every hour of every day – they shouldn’t be forced to shut valuable programs that help society, just because they are defined as charitable. They shouldn’t be forced to pay poverty wages to talented people (only to lose them when they can’t make a living) and have little to no technology to do their jobs. It’s great to have a corps of volunteers to help deliver on the mission, but (well)paid staff and resources have to underpin the work of those volunteers. Grant application after grant application all specify that the funds are for “programming”, with little to none of the funding directed towards staff, or keeping the lights on. Why?? And why do funders give limited-time funding for “projects” that will die when the funding runs out? It’s time that we, as members of our collective society, start to speak out about why we have to change from a poverty mentality to one of abundance in supporting the work of the social impact sector. We will all be richer for it. Laura Mikuska · |
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