Nonprofit Start-Ups

Nonprofit Start-Ups

Not every new problem needs a new charity

A story in yesterday's USA Today caught my eye: The Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, which has gathered more than $32 million in the last four months, has yet to give a dollar to help hurricane victims.

Why? Because starting a new nonprofit or charitable foundation takes a lot of work! New Jersey first lady, Mary Pat Christie, makes no apologies for taking an appropriate amount of time setting up a new charity. According to their website, several grants are currently being awarded.

I completely agree with her that it's worth the time and effort to set up a charity correctly - get the infrastructure in place, develop appropriate policies and procedures, hire staff members, recruit the best board members and create viable strategies for addressing the problems you trying to solve. But I believe the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund has no need to exist: not because there aren't people who need the help but precisely BECAUSE there are people who need the help. They needed it four months ago.

Taking the time to carefully and thoughtfully create this charitable organization, while theoretically admirable, is, in my opinion, poor stewardship of the $32 million in donations received. Those who donated (I'm picturing the children who opened their piggy banks and families who redirected Christmas budgets) in the hope of helping people in dire need have not seen their gift spent as they intended.

Christie responds to critics by saying, "In three years, when I'm still distributing money at Hurricane Sandy Relief, ask me if we're doing enough." I would counter that, if she is still distributing money in three years, her relief effort has been a failure.

Which leads me (finally) to my point: not every new problem needs a new nonprofit. 

There. I said it.

At least two or three times a month, I have someone approach me about starting a new nonprofit organization. While there may be a need for a problem to be addressed, there is seldom a need to create a new organization to address it. Whatever problem they want to solve, there is usually a reputable organization already addressing it. They are probably doing it with more effectiveness and efficiency than a start-up organization could.

Case in point: the Robin Hood Foundation - which received the benefit of the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief. Instead of creating a whole new charity, the concert gave the funds to an existing organization. They have already distributed almost the entire $67 million raised.

They were able to do it quickly because they have 25 years of experience and 85 employees. It's a model that is infinitely more effective than creating a new nonprofit organization.

Now, I am not criticizing Mrs. Christie's efforts - in fact, I applaud them. It seems that she is doing an excellent job setting up a nonprofit organization and doing it well. In this case, I just don't think that's what donors REALLY wanted done with their money.

Are you thinking about creating a new nonprofit organization? If so, why? Is there really no other organization that can do what you are proposing? Could your time and energy be better spent helping them?