With our hectic, rush-around lives today we often put ourselves in a vulnerable position. Most of us probably put a good amount of thought into making our purchases. I know that I will research items and brands to find out about a product's features, compare prices, and read reviews by others who have tried the product already.
Unfortunately, we go through our day making purchases with barely any thought at all. How much are you losing when you zone out and trust the cash register to ring up the correct price? My dad was big on watching as items were rung up at the store. He taught me to pay attention to sale prices and to make sure they showed up that way at the cash register. He also explained that stores are regularly checked for their accuracy and that mistakes are always found. Nobody is perfect and some stores seem to avoid programming in sales prices intentionally.
It's only a few cents, right? Why bother making a big deal out of the 15 cents they overcharged you on something? Because that one item is the only one you caught and there are most likely many, many more. If you don't say anything, they will happily overcharge you over and over again.
I had another experience with this on a higher level today. I needed to buy tires for my car and I checked ahead of time on prices at the specific store I was going to. We were also smart enough to take advantage of a daily deals offer that allowed us to get $50 vouchers for $25. I also saw that the store was running some rebate deals when buying sets of 4 tires. Armed and ready, I headed into Big O Tires to make my big purchase. The quote I was given for the tires was $20 per tire more than I was expecting. When I challenged the clerk, he printed out a list of all the tires that size with their prices from their store's website. Imagine his surprise when I showed him that the tires I was shopping for had a lower price on the website than what he had in his computer database.
It doesn't end there. When I came to pick up my car with the pretty new tires, the original clerk was gone and he didn't put my vouchers with the work order. There was no way I was going to let $200 in vouchers just disappear! Fortunately, the clerk who was there did a serious search and found the vouchers. Paying attention and standing up for myself saved me more than a few cents today.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Sunday, April 14, 2013
An Insider's View of Nonprofits
For nearly 12 years now I have worked for nonprofit organizations. In addition, I have worked with a handful of other nonprofit groups in a volunteer leadership capacity. In hanging out on Facebook tonight, I saw a post that got me all worked up. It was an infographic that claimed to tell about how some very large charities were paying large salaries to their executives and how some smaller charities were putting more of the money donated to "the cause."
After a quick check of Snopes to see if anything had been said about this infographic, I found that the information it presented was old and very inaccurate. Unfortunately, things like this fly across Facebook at amazing speed and most people will just decide to turn their backs on larger charities without ever trying to learn the truth.
If you intend to give to a charity/nonprofit, you should be checking to see where the money goes. I'd like to .
tell you some of the things I've learned so you can have a better understanding of how some of these organizations work. I'm no expert, but I have a working knowledge to share. The first thing to be aware of is that charities need to be recognized as such by the IRS. Getting that official nonprofit status means that they've set up the organization and proven their purpose and that they will have to meet certain standards to keep that status. Not every charity is a nonprofit. There are actually some charities that are for profit rather than nonprofit.
My biggest pet peeve when people look at and judge nonprofits is that they assume that everyone involve should be working for free or for very tiny salaries. Good will and desire to help drives many people to volunteer their time and talents to the causes they believe in, but how many of you would be willing to work a 40+ hour per week job all year long without any pay? Those in executive positions would make at least 2-4 times more for the same work in a for-profit company. In my current job with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, we make very good use of volunteers and the hours they contributed last year were equivalent to five full-time employees.
The task of calculating where the donated money goes is a very interesting process. You have to determine how much money went toward the mission of the organization. That could be programs, services, research, etc. On the other side are the administrative and fundraising costs. Although some donations would probably come in without prompting, the majority of donations will come in through fundraising campaigns and events. There will generally be costs associated with either of those activities.
For example, I manage our Walk MS events in Utah. We do what we can to get things donated and have fees waived, but we still have a lot of costs involved. It was a challenge to do the budget and determine every penny needed and where to cut spending. Here is just a sampling of what costs go with this type of event:
Even with a fundraising campaign, you're paying for the envelopes, letterhead, and postage and then the salaries of those involved with preparing and executing the campaign. Bulk mailings can help with costs for sending out a lot of appeals at one time. Despite the way most people seem to feel about these appeals, they tend to bring in more than what was spent with much less effort than a large event or phone campaign.
I used to work for a different nonprofit that had a very different setup. It was a residential treatment center for youth and the fundraising (or development) side of things was actually quite small. Funding for the treatment provided came in from various agencies, health insurance, and families of the clients. That meant that the basic needs of the facility were already taken care of. Fundraising targeted specific needs and improvements to the program rather than the daily needs. In some ways, they could claim that 100% of the donations went directly to the cause and nothing was spent on administrative and fundraising expenses since the employees, buildings, equipment, etc. were already being paid for and weren't dependent on the fundraising. It makes sense, but the official way of calculating it isn't swayed by that logic. Salaries for executives and the development personnel had to be weighed against the small number of donations that were coming in (fees for the services provided aren't donations) and that gave an unfavorable picture.
Next time you decide to support your favorite cause, check to see how they handle the money and keep in mind what it takes to keep that organization up and running. If you decide to be part of a charitable event that doesn't charge a fee, I hope you will consider donating a few dollars to offset the costs of that "free" event. I hope you will also consider how you can make a difference by contributing your time and talents (especially professional skills) as a volunteer for your favorite charity.
After a quick check of Snopes to see if anything had been said about this infographic, I found that the information it presented was old and very inaccurate. Unfortunately, things like this fly across Facebook at amazing speed and most people will just decide to turn their backs on larger charities without ever trying to learn the truth.
If you intend to give to a charity/nonprofit, you should be checking to see where the money goes. I'd like to .
My biggest pet peeve when people look at and judge nonprofits is that they assume that everyone involve should be working for free or for very tiny salaries. Good will and desire to help drives many people to volunteer their time and talents to the causes they believe in, but how many of you would be willing to work a 40+ hour per week job all year long without any pay? Those in executive positions would make at least 2-4 times more for the same work in a for-profit company. In my current job with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, we make very good use of volunteers and the hours they contributed last year were equivalent to five full-time employees.
The task of calculating where the donated money goes is a very interesting process. You have to determine how much money went toward the mission of the organization. That could be programs, services, research, etc. On the other side are the administrative and fundraising costs. Although some donations would probably come in without prompting, the majority of donations will come in through fundraising campaigns and events. There will generally be costs associated with either of those activities.
For example, I manage our Walk MS events in Utah. We do what we can to get things donated and have fees waived, but we still have a lot of costs involved. It was a challenge to do the budget and determine every penny needed and where to cut spending. Here is just a sampling of what costs go with this type of event:- event permits
- police fees (for blocking streets along the route)
- location/park rental
- food and water for participants
- signage (sign, sign, everywhere a sign)
- bibs (race number) and safety pins
- design and printing of posters, brochures, postcards, etc.
- design and printing of event shirts, volunteer shirts
- prizes/incentives to motivate fundraising by participants
- rental of sound system, tables, chairs, tents
- envelopes, letterhead, and postage for letters to acknowledge and thank donors
- miscellaneous office supplies and printing for registration forms, waivers, check-in lists, etc.
- first aid/emergency personnel
- gas/mileage, truck rental, etc. to haul supplies
- armored transport for money
- advertising for event
- bank fees for credit card donations
- software platform for online fundraising
- salaries of staff involved
I used to work for a different nonprofit that had a very different setup. It was a residential treatment center for youth and the fundraising (or development) side of things was actually quite small. Funding for the treatment provided came in from various agencies, health insurance, and families of the clients. That meant that the basic needs of the facility were already taken care of. Fundraising targeted specific needs and improvements to the program rather than the daily needs. In some ways, they could claim that 100% of the donations went directly to the cause and nothing was spent on administrative and fundraising expenses since the employees, buildings, equipment, etc. were already being paid for and weren't dependent on the fundraising. It makes sense, but the official way of calculating it isn't swayed by that logic. Salaries for executives and the development personnel had to be weighed against the small number of donations that were coming in (fees for the services provided aren't donations) and that gave an unfavorable picture.
Next time you decide to support your favorite cause, check to see how they handle the money and keep in mind what it takes to keep that organization up and running. If you decide to be part of a charitable event that doesn't charge a fee, I hope you will consider donating a few dollars to offset the costs of that "free" event. I hope you will also consider how you can make a difference by contributing your time and talents (especially professional skills) as a volunteer for your favorite charity.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Win a Keepsake Tatted Lace Doily
I am raising money for an event called Walk MS. It supports the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and will help fund research to find a cure so nobody else has to lose their mom to this horrible disease. For every $1 donation to my fundraising efforts, your name will be entered into a drawing to win this doily ($5 donation puts your name in the drawing 5 times). I will draw the winning name on May 1, 2013. Donations can be made online, delivered to me in person, or mailed to the National MS Society (address below).
Thank you for anything you are able to give. Giving up this keepsake will be worth it if it brings us closer to finding a cure.
Mailing address:
National MS Society
1440 Foothill Dr., Suite 200
Salt Lake City, UT 84108
(Please make sure you include a note that says "Karen Tapahe, Walk MS" so the money is credited to the right place)
The doily is approximately 8.5 inches across and tatted in peach colored cotton thread. This was one of the first doilies I ever tatted.
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