Admin Ratio Is a Poor Indicator of a Charity's Effectiveness | Marina Glogovac

Admin Ratio Is a Poor Indicator of a Charity's Effectiveness | Marina Glogovac: "But when we look at charities to support, we suddenly and inexplicably get fixated solely on the "admin ratio" and the overhead, which for charities can include both costs of fundraising and admin expenses. We value charities mostly based on how low the overhead is -- this is a deeply entrenched, if not consciously examined, measuring stick for charities. We want our support to go exclusively toward program delivery and not into staff, operations, technology, or training and development -- as if the two are completely unrelated."



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A Board Member's Guide to Nonprofit Overhead | Blue Avocado

A Board Member's Guide to Nonprofit Overhead | Blue Avocado

Calculating overhead rates and managing overhead expense are important staff roles. Board members are not required to know how do staff accounting work, but we do need to bring an informed perspective to our oversight:

 

Good charities spend more on admin but it is not money wasted | Voluntary Sector Network | Guardian Professional

Good charities spend more on admin but it is not money wasted | Voluntary Sector Network | Guardian Professional: Good charities spend more on admin but it is not money wasted

The popular idea that charities fritter money on unnecessary admin has been proven wrong. You must spend to be effective

Charity overhead stats are useful, but not in the way you think | Humanosphere

Charity overhead stats are useful, but not in the way you think | Humanosphere: Overhead has become a totem in the humanitarian world as charities and aid organizations seek to spend the most on services and the least on administrative costs.

A Too-Sad Truth about the Nonprofit Sector - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active and engaged democracy.

A Too-Sad Truth about the Nonprofit Sector - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active and engaged democracy.
“Is there something in society’s subconscious that expects nonprofits to operate in ‘poverty-like ways’?” That question was a showstopper in the Cohort 20 classroom of the summer 2010 master’s program in philanthropy and development at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. We were talking about the starvation mentality in so many nonprofits—you know, things like really old, rather dysfunctional computers and such poor wages that employees cannot afford a reasonable mortgage and may have to visit the soup kitchen for a meal.

Is Overhead a Good Yardstick for Nonprofits? - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.

Is Overhead a Good Yardstick for Nonprofits? - NPQ – Nonprofit Quarterly - Promoting an active an engaged democracy.: Outspoken and direct, Jack Shakely, the president emeritus of the California Community Foundation, says in no uncertain terms that administrative costs—the measurement people most often use to determine a nonprofit organization’s worth—is a poor means of evaluation. In this LA Times editorial, Shakely writes that it doesn’t help that charity raters with their “top 20 lists” propagate this notion, as do nonprofits that perpetuate it by brandishing their administrative overhead costs on their websites or promotional material. For nonprofits trying to create social change or to solve large problems in society, why would a simple number—the percentage of an organization’s budget dedicated to administrative costs—determine how effective it is?

How to stop donors asking about your administration costs | Voluntary Sector Network | Guardian Professional

How to stop donors asking about your administration costs | Voluntary Sector Network | Guardian Professional: How to stop donors asking about your administration costs

Charities need to stop talking about their administration costs and focus on telling donors where their money goes

Administrative costs: The worst way to judge a charity - latimes.com

Administrative costs: The worst way to judge a charity - latimes.com: Op-Ed
The worst way to judge a charity
Although low administrative costs could indicate prudence and sound judgment at a charity, but it could just as easily indicate inadequate staffing, insufficient salaries or, shall we say, fudging.

The 'Third Rail' of Nonprofits: Overhead - WSJ.com

The 'Third Rail' of Nonprofits: Overhead - WSJ.com: Overhead is a touchy subject for many nonprofits. Donors who want most or all of their contributions to support an organization's cause may be overly critical of administrative costs and other overhead. Nonprofits, in turn, often feel pressured to keep overhead down and so may misrepresent those costs, reinforcing donors' unrealistic expectations.

Society Notebook: It's a gift | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Society Notebook: It's a gift | The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram: n order to do so, he told us that we must realize that "money does not matter as much as influence and time" and that giving to "fewer things in a bigger way for a longer period of time" is a proven way to get better results. He also pointed out that a nonprofit organization's overhead and administrative costs shouldn't be judged solely based on its percentage of total costs, because staffing is a crucial area when it comes to an organization's effectiveness.

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | Why "Good" Overhead Is Better than "Bad" for Nonprofits

The Nonprofit Quarterly | @npquarterly | Why "Good" Overhead Is Better than "Bad" for Nonprofits: "une 3, 2011; Source: Businessweek.com | There ought to be a prize in philanthropy for the person who finally answers definitively the question, 'how much overhead is OK for a nonprofit?' Bloomberg Businessweek columnist Rick Wartzman, who also is the executive director of the Drucker Institute at Claremont Graduate University, zeroes in on that question as the one that perplexes donors most when deciding whether a nonprofit is worthy of their support."

Five Charity-Evaluation Groups Mount Effort to Educate Americans About Smarter Giving - Philanthropy.com

Five Charity-Evaluation Groups Mount Effort to Educate Americans About Smarter Giving - Philanthropy.com: "harity Navigator, poking holes in the value of overhead ratio? Actually, yes.

The watchdog group, which gives charities good scores for spending little on overhead in comparison to their program expenses, is one of five organizations trying to get Americans to pay less attention to administrative and fund-raising costs when they think about which groups to support. (See this press release from the five groups.)"

Community foundation asks for one hour of pay in May

Community foundation asks for one hour of pay in May: "The Fairfield Community Foundation is asking city and township residents for an hour of their time.

The foundation's annual Hour of Pay in May campaign is under way. About 22,000 households in Fairfield and Fairfield Twp. will receive envelops requesting recipients donate what they make in an hour at work."