Wednesday, January 03, 2007

PND - News - Charities Make Case for Funding Administrative Costs

PND - News - Charities Make Case for Funding Administrative Costs: "Charities Make Case for Funding Administrative Costs

After years of listening to donors insist that the funds they donate should be devoted exclusively to programs, a growing number of nonprofits are trying to convince donors that spending money on overhead isn't necessarily a bad thing, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Often influenced by charity-watchdog sites, many donors have become extremely selective about the kinds of charities they will support, often supporting only those which spend a tiny fraction of their budget on administrative costs. Charities have countered by seeking gifts specifically to help fund overhead, arguing that such gifts are vital to their ability to grow, attract quality staffers, and deal with rising costs. 'The key,' said Eric Schwarz, CEO of Citizen Schools, Boston, 'is you don't call it overhead. Talk about metrics. Show that to get even better results and expand to reach more kids we need to invest in our team.'"

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