Q&A: DAN PALLOTTA, CHARITY CASE: How the Non-Profit Community Can Stand Up for Itself and Really Change the World
Written on August 15th, 2014Aired: 04/15/13
When someone approaches you to donate to a non-profit, how many of you want to know how much of of its money goes to salaries and fund-raising and how much goes to actual program services? If you’re like most people, that question probably figures into your decision.
I myself have factored that question of how much is spent on overhead into my charitable giving. But is it a valid or wise way to make such decisions? According to today’s guest, DAN PALLOTTA, while it may be helpful, much more important is how well they serve their mission, how good a job they’re doing solving the problems you care about.
In his earlier book, UNCHARITABLE, Pallotta, who has a record of helping to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for causes, made the case that the way we think about non-profits and the rules we set for them, makes it harder for them to succeed on a truly significant scale. Too many nonprofits, he says, are rewarded for how little they spend — not for what they get done. Instead of equating frugality with morality, he asks us to start rewarding charities for big goals and big accomplishments (even if that comes with big expenses). Where other folks suggest ways to optimize performance inside the existing paradigm, UNCHARITABLE suggests that the paradigm itself is the problem and calls into question our fundamental beliefs about charity.
With a new book, CHARITY CASE: How the Non-Profit community Can Stand Up for Itself and Really Change the World and in a recent very popular TED talk, he says “My goal … is to fundamentally transform the way the public thinks about charity within 10 years.”
www.danpallotta.com
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Q&A: ERIC GREITENS, Author – THE HEART AND THE FIST
Written on July 7th, 2011Aired 07/03/11
ERIC GREITENS attended Duke University and was awarded a Rhodes scholarship to attend Oxford University, where he earned a Ph.D. and won a gold medal at BUSA National Boxing Championships. His research led to humanitarian work in Rwanda, Albania, Mexico, India, Croatia, Bolivia, and Cambodia. In 2001, he joined the Navy SEALs and deployed four times. His military awards include the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. When Eric returned from Iraq, he founded The Mission Continues to help wounded and disabled warriors to serve their communities here at home.
His book THE HEART AND THE FIST: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL tells the story of these seemingly contradictory roles.