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Generation NGO

PATRICK WHITE

From Friday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 9:25 AM EDT 24/03/08

Unimpressed with the bureaucracy of big charities, twentysomethings are going the DIY route and launching their own non-profits. Are they brats who don't play well with others - or just misunderstood? Patrick White reports ...Read the full article

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  1. B Johnson from Halifax, Canada writes: Maybe they're just tired of seeing the paltry amounts of money that are filtering through to those most in need. Most charities are bloating with corporate offices and administrative salaries. What's the point of donating to pay for these home based perks. Bravo to these young people for taking the initiative.
  2. Ryan Ginger from ottawa, Canada writes: Patrick White writes: 'Generation Y - the headstrong, attention-weak cohort born between 1980 and 1995...'

    Any facts to back this up, Mr. White? Or is this just your generational ignorance speaking?
  3. L M from Vancouver, Canada writes: I fall in to that age group and I agree, I have the same problem with most established charities. I am especially annoyed that established charities think that they have turf, that no other organization should be able to address the needs of the same group. It's charity for goodness sake. If more charities help the same people, all the better. Think of the alternative - if there is only one charity for a purpose, then people in need would have to be at the mercy of that charity for help. I therefore disagreed with the tip at the end of the article about making sure that no one had thought of your idea for a charity first.
    I loved the 'we've learned a thing or two' comment. Yeah, you've learned how to leach out cushy salaries from the donations of well intentioned people while creating a halos for yourselves.
    I always ask charities how much of their money goes into admin before I donate. Too often it is disgustingly high.
  4. mats naslund from london, Canada writes: This generation has learned that you cannot sit idle and wait for bureaucratic organizations to solve all our social issues. In many ways smaller groups are more effective in delivering services to the people who need it. I for one see this as a positive sign for democratic PARTICIPATION. What a positive sign that gen Y should respond to the apathy and angst of gen x in this manner.
  5. Stop! Think! from Canada writes: Gen Y are truly the most abused generation....Glad to see that we are actually fighting back against the oppressive baby-boomers, who would like nothing more than for us to continue paying their salaries....
  6. CD W from Canada writes: The homeless are an interesting bunch, they are a good part of my work. So I wondered, maybe I should just ask them how they got to where they were. Here are the answers most heard by me, in no particular order. 1)Grade 4 was the 3 best years of my life 2)I like drugs 3)I like to drink 4)I am on parole 5)The whiteman took my land 6)I was sexually assaulted back on the Rez. 7)I am a survivor of the mental health industry 8)I hate shelters, cant be drunk and stay there 9)I like crack Almost none are in a situation of 'I was working in a great job and then it just disappeared'. If seeing a homeless person makes you think that something should be done, then go at it. After a few decades you will be charmed by the nature of those who fill in the new spots for when you save one or two, or they just die off. Charity is important, but the person to whom it is directed has to accept it in the manner it is provided, and stop the behaviour that has them where they are. This is the part I have always found interesting. I dont want to live in poop, but I will still live in poop. But I agree, make sure they are fed, clothed, offered housing, medical stuff, oh we do. How come we still allow them to smoke, slow suicide if you ask me. The individual makes the free will choice to take the path of destruction, good luck convincing them to do something different.
  7. Antonio San from Canada writes: Charity business is alive and well. Often, taxpayers through the obtaining of charity status are asked to support personal crusades and self promotion causes...
  8. Dead Parrot Sketch from Canada writes: young people only want three things

    recognition
    compensation
    impact

    life long job security, high pay for long hours and invisibility within a hierarchy are no longer de rigeur

    NGOs provide the opportunity to acheive the above three goals in a non hierarchical, risk/reward highly mobile environment

    Problems:

    separating the wheat from the chaff;
    The internet makes this more difficult to do

    charities and NGOs are often a front for diaspora networks to support nefarious activities abroad;

    no-one votes for NGOs and therefore they lack the legitimacy of organizations based on democratic processes; they represent only themselves;

    NGOs abroad often cause more trouble than good;

    the Govt still represents Canadians abroad though NGOs are the first to go and the last to leave.
  9. Stan L from Canada writes: I am of two minds about this....on the one hand it's terrific initiative that the kids are showing and terrific life expereince that they are gaining and I applaud anyone for pursuing a life such as this....... On the other hand.......although the students are keen, I wonder that they haven't thought through some of the issues...... Point 1, Volunteer organizations require lengthy application processes often becuase of liability and safety issues, there have been cases of theft, abuse and etc...from volunteers that have not been properly vetted through the system and the organization involved pays dearly not just from the immediate incident but in the loss of repuation and donations down the road..... Point 2, organizations, particularily those that are on the front line of care know that often the best volunteers are those that will create a relationship with Clients, the end results speak for themselves......but imagine the trust and the general feeling security you lose when you have to deal with different volunteers all the time....how personal a relationship can you have, how do you trust? Organizations can't afford to have volunteers that are doing this for credit or for better looking resumes or will abandon the job once school starts and etc......so they are careful. Point 3, It's one thing to create a charity drive for a specific goal but it's quite another to compete for those ever decreasing voluntary dollars.....while it's nice to be your own boss, does your peice end up hurting the whole, because where 5 organizations used to get all the dollar in a region now 25 organizations are competing for the same dollars......how do you think the United Way got started?
  10. Vickky Angstrom from Canada writes: Charity is an inefficient way to run a society. The best, the brightest, the most driven and idealistic waste time raising money instead of solving society's problems. Universal programming is a far more efficient use of resources as well as being fairer.

    For those of you who are cynical about administrative costs, find a charity that declares theirs.

    For those of you who don't think a lot of people can be helped - lobby for more programming for children at risk. For every dollar we spend on a child at risk, we save between $9 and $15 dollars on that child as an adult. And, of course, untold suffering.
  11. J K GALBRAITH from Canada writes: I don't think the real picture is the either/or scenario presented by this article. It's a good thing there are many large, well established charities that operate with formal processes and understand what needs to be done on a systematic way because of their history and experience. It also a good thing that these organizations have full time professional staff who are generally paid far less than their skill set would earn them in the private sector. At the same time, new approaches and innovations are beneficial to all areas of society and life. Certainly, the legacy that a 19 year old British Columbian has made since his Marathon of Hope in 1991 is just incredible. However, for every Terry Fox, there are dozens of other causes that had people start out with good intentions but were not able to sustain them or ensure the organization could develop without their involvement. Therefore, people of all ages should think long and hard about whether there idea is really unique in its delivery and service it provides or whether it is just a variation on the same service provided by another charity. The growht in the number of charities over the last 20 years has far outstripped the increase in donations by the general public and corporations. This likely means that as a total, the charitable sector may not be achieving as much impact because there is a lot more charities and more duplication with more combined overhead chasing a slowly growing pot of donations. The other
  12. The Wight from Canada writes: Vickky Angstrom:

    'For those of you who are cynical about administrative costs, find a charity that declares theirs.'

    To qualify for charitable status, their books have to be completely open AND get reviewed periodically, so I doubt your specific concern with charities hits home in this case.
  13. jackie ellefsen from Canada writes: thank you...
    J K GALBRAITH from Canada writes: It also a good thing that these organizations have full time professional staff who are generally paid far less than their skill set would earn them in the private sector.

    i was wondering when someone would finally mention that. for some reason people think that highly skilled professionals that run mulit-million dollar organizations should be living in cardboard boxes...
  14. Interested Observer #1 from Canada writes: While I applaud anyone who has the mindset to help others, the problem as I see it becomes one of dilution. There has been a huge increase in non-profits and NGO's largely due to people who want to do it 'their way'. The end result is too many charities and non-profits chasing the money for the same or similar causes, and the very real problem of donor fatigue from being approached by too many different advocates. I don't like the big overhead heavy charities either. I don't want my charitable dollars to be wasted on administration costs. We need the best of both worlds. Small enough to zero in and get things done, large enough to bring in the bucks needed to finance what needs to get done. Why not collaboration, instead of the us and them approach?
  15. Emma Hawthorne from Canada writes: Jessie Hamonic is to be applauded and praised for moving beyond our over-stuffed overpaid executives at heavyweight old-style NGOs. It is a real eye openers to go to the www.charityvillage.com web site jsut to look at the salaries being offered for many positions. Clearly charity is also Big Business everywhere. I'm not impressed by the mish-mash of inefficient chairites operating in Africa, for example, where too much money and effort is wasted in disorganized duplication and inefficiency. However, thankfully, some major leaders are now trying to iron out the African mish-mash to make sure the efforts of all good-intentioned workers and donators are put to good use. If Mr. Hamonic can do good works with his own organizations, and it certainly appears that he can, I wish him nothing but the best. Of course he sould make use of the knowledge of older NGOs but I also hope he will continue to avoid the worst faults of the older NGOs. Today's young social entrepreneurs and NGOs are the ones to watch in my view. They are very very special people with much to give.
  16. Ted Harrison from Canada writes: Ryan Ginger from ottawa, Canada writes: Patrick White writes: 'Generation Y - the headstrong, attention-weak cohort born between 1980 and 1995... Any facts to back this up, Mr. White? Or is this just your generational ignorance speaking?'

    I'm with Ryan Ginger on this. I'm older, falling somewhere between the media designations of Gen X and Baby Boomer), and even I resent a news reporter designating everyone born into a 15 year time span 'attention-weak.' I realize it's supposed to make the article interesting, but mostly it just predisposes me to regard the rest of what is written as idiotic.
  17. Sean L. from Toronto, Canada writes: Oh yes, we are talking about the generation of entitlement again. The I should start at the top cause mommy always said I was the best, and I don't need to work hard to get ahead generation. This is just another example of the need for immediate gratification that this generation feels, and their unwillingness to work as part of a team, waiting on the bench for their turn at bat.
  18. tired horses from Canada writes: I can't find an org I'd volunteer with anymore. Look at the 'disease' orgs. They've all been co-opted by industry, couldn't even open their doors without pharma funding. Run for the Cure? Pretty much just another women's auxiliary creating jobs for the scientists. But on the 'cure' front (which isn't ever going to happen because it would put all those researchers out of work, and all those shareholders gone somewhere else. )

    Nothing new to offer women with bc for over 40 years. But lots of money circulating. I do resent the idea of breast cancer as a social event, and that's just what is happening in the disease non-profits. There goal is to foster consumerism, not serve the original mandate.

    Not a penny from me to those 'non-profits', so I'm interested in learning more about this initiative. Let's hope they don't allow themselves to be co-opted.
  19. John S from Toronto, Canada writes: How typically Canadian.

    I have run into this when trying to volunteer with places crying for help. Same old union / socialist story -- we have nothing for you to do, nothing for you to help with, and have to write a report/action plan and so on ... blah blah blah.

    These hippies are getting old and the younger generation has to show them how it's done. I am glad to see Canadians being aggressive, ambitious and working unlike those lazy boomer/echo boomer hippies. The left wing fell asleep and it is time for them to wake up.

    NGO's/charities should be BUILT on volunteering and should always allow and want them. This situation as it is now is quite pathetic and sad.
  20. Another Opinion from Toronto, Canada writes: As a potential giver, I see a simple problem with this approach. With charities springing up like dandelions on my lawn, I may be tempted to simply shut them ALL out rather than waste MY time wading through reams of information trying to find one that is actually doing some good.

    I could really care less if a bunch of grad students want to pad their resume. What I care about is not giving my money to a fly-by-night organization that's going to waste my hard-earned cash.

    As a sidebar, just because demographic trends are stated poorly does not invalidate the data. Expressing bitterness about social and cultural trends does not make them go away.
  21. Karen Rice from Montreal, Canada writes: I think this is a trend that is more than welcomed. The old concepts of charities have become crippled by their bureaucracy. Some of them have lost credibility and worse, the public trust; seen as nothing more than money-making machines for their directors.

    Its time to put these mammoths to rest and see if this new generation can't accomplish more than we have been able to do, thus far. They are young, with fresh ideas and energy. I'd rather see my money go to something with this type of enthusiasm than stockpiled in a bank account, to purchase new office furniture or ahem..."fact finding" missions. Witness: The Montreal SPCA.

    I'll be cheering this people on - we need them. More than that, the areas that require help, need them. Face it, fellow old fogies...we screwed up. Maybe this generation can plug the holes and fix what we, so badly, damaged through greed and arrogance.
  22. Edward Vickers from Edmonton, Canada writes: Whatever the pros and cons of different strategies, any involvement by youth in volunteering and charity is welcome. The true disgrace of the charity world is the hoarding of information which would permit more people to become involved. many, if not most charities have a corporate mentality that insists on power and information hoarding. Information that will make it easier and more effective for youth to involve themselves in volunteering and charity work should be public information available to all. The notion that any success by any charity should become the secret of a corporate strategy is disgraceful.
    The true nature of charity is sharing so let us put all our information in the public domain and stop this idiotic competiition as if charity was a profit making enterprise. Thank heavens for these students who rightfully ignore the stuffiness and control freaks who run many charities. Shake it up some more I say, only good will come from it.

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