Between the Interviews - Making Sense of Nonprofit Nonsense

When talking about the Capitalism for Good project, I often get recommendations for nonprofit organizations, companies with give-back programs & associated foundations, and community-based companies focused on serving a specific underserved population. These are great! I’ll be highlighting some of these in future interviews with business leaders because I truly want to promote those that are focused on the greater good. These organizations aren’t the only ones that have the ability to do so though. 

In this episode, I focus on clearing up some misconceptions around these organizations, bring in government organizations to the conversation, and explain how the context, functionality, and details of how organizations operate are key to achieving higher rates of effectiveness and efficiency. Specifically focusing on the desire to use both donations and taxpayer dollars to “directly serve clients” and when this phrase all too often does the exact opposite watering down the ROI of that donation or taxpayer dollar. This is a lesson in overhead rates and indirect cost rates as well as how nonprofits can increase the ROI on clients served by looking beyond commonly thought of “direct costs.”

References: NOT-OD-25-068: Supplemental Guidance to the 2024 NIH Grants Policy Statement: Indirect Cost Rates, IDC = Indirect Costs, ROI = Return on Investment, KY IEP Advocate’s All Things Special About Education podcast

What I'm reading: Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell because its (and The Tipping Point) examination of examples of when a tipping point was reached to make a change in our world, both positively and not-so-positively. 

I'm not telling you what to do, but here's where I'm putting my dollar: travel is a priority to budget my time and money because it fills my cup

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More information at: https://www.capitalism-for-good.com/

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The Capitalism for Good Podcast is all about how we make and spend our money to benefit the greater good (and how that benefits us right back). We talk to business leaders about how they are using their businesses, both small and large, to make a positive difference in their communities. This is the intersection of money, time, energy, and bandwidth considering how to balance these for now and for the future’s “now.”

There’s also a Between the Interviews sub-series and other perks available on the Patreon.

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