Week 9

 

Summary:

This week I learned that funders’ unrealistic expectations, underfed overhead, and misleading reporting lead to an unstable infrastructure within non-profit organizations.  I also learned the difference between a movement and an organization, and the areas of discrimination within those organizations.  Finally, I learned how to do an audit of a non-profit organization to see if it is truly socially innovative.

Response to an activity:

This week’s application activity opened my eyes to non-profits that are actively doing good vs. being socially innovative.  Researching for the activity opened my eyes to the organization that I donate my time and money to every year:  American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.  After my research and scoring them on what I found, I realized that this organization is doing great.  They are making a difference, for sure.  However, like most organizations, some improvement is needed in some areas.  AFSP is in the middle of a 3-year strategy that I am looking forward to seeing results in.  I’m hoping it will help the organization in improving on some areas of impact, especially in the area of diversity.

Weekly prompt:   Discuss how you can use this lesson as a non-profit volunteer, donor, board member, or employee?

I can use this week’s lessons in two areas as a non-profit volunteer.  One area is supporting the organizations efforts in getting funders to realize how important following the mission of the organization is.  When funders come in and want to give money, but only if the organization follows their rules, it puts the organization’s mission in jeopardy.  Helping funders realize this could be my pivotal role in getting the funding in the right manor. 

Another area that I could apply this week’s lessons is literally doing the audit application activity with a board member or manager within the organization.  Helping them to see which attributes they could be working on could change aspects of the organizations ability to truly impact the people they serve.