It’s Nothing Personal. Actually, Maybe It Is.
A nonprofit effort with an intimate connection to a specific person can run into trouble once that person passes on, as a couple of recent news stories illustrate.
The Aspen Times reported yesterday that the Windstar Foundation, cofounded in 1976 by John Denver, is only now back on its feet — and just barely at that — 10 years after Denver’s death. With no star power behind it once the singer-songwriter perished in a plane crash, the environmental advocacy group had to close its doors for a few years, and while it has since reopened, it’s running in the red.
Membership is the biggest source of revenue for Windstar, [Ron] Deutschendorf[, the organization’s president and Denver’s brother,] noted.
“Like any foundation we’re always looking for donations and greater membership,” he said. “We just haven’t had the kind of funding we used to have. And outside the valley, I’m not sure anyone knows we exist.”
While Denver’s death was tragic and unexpected, one cannot say the same about Leo Eloesser, a physician who died more than 30 years at the age of 95. Eloesser’s will directed that his considerable assets be used to provide need-based financial aid to medical students. His longtime companion chose the American Friends Service Committee, the Quaker charity based in Philadelphia, to administer those assets according to the will. But the Pennsylvania Attorney General, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, has sued AFSC in the wake of allegations made by a disgruntled former employee that the Committee hasn’t followed Eloesser’s instructions:
The charity insists that it spent Eloesser’s money on worthy health-care causes, albeit not always precisely on medical training.
Indeed, the Attorney General’s Office says there is no suggestion that anyone personally ripped off the fund. The purpose of the suit, a lawyer said, is to make sure Eloesser’s wishes are honored.
Still, charity experts are troubled.
“A bedrock principle of well-managed nonprofit organizations is to honor the intentions of your donors,” said Daniel Borochoff, president of the American Institute of Philanthropy in Chicago.
“These other programs may be completely noble, but if the donor wants it used for Purpose A, it cannot be used for Purpose B. It’s not good. It does not help current or future supporters of the AFSC to have confidence.”
The lesson? It’s all about the mission. If your organization depends heavily on a specific person for visibility and attractiveness, prepare for the day when that person is no longer around. Is your mission articulated well enough to outlive the celebrity who champions it? And if restrictions on charitable disbursement become too unwieldy, can you persuade others that changes will allow you to carry out the donor’s mission, even if it’s differently than he or she directed? | 501(c)
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