Let's stop lying about where the money goes

"100 percent of the money you donate today is going directly to the cause we serve!"

At a convention earlier this month I heard a fellow Director of Development say this to a group company heads.

She wasn't lying, per say, but that phrase is a sort of nonprofit manipulation that nonprofit leaders need to stay away from.

So, what does this phrase really mean? In the nonprofit world, what you are basically promising is that any money donated will be deposited into the bank but designated as "programmatic funds." However, many things fall into programmatic funds that a lot of people wouldn't consider:

• Rent

• Salaries and insurance for program employees

• Food or beverages provided to program staff

• Program staff traveling expenses

In other words, if you are giving money to a dog rescue nonprofit, the money isn't going directly to food, water, and supplies for the animals, but also to the office rent and salaries for the people who take care of them.

OK, simple enough, right? Well, not entirely. Just because the money you are donating goes directly "to the cause" doesn't mean the nonprofit itself spends money wisely or achieves its goals.

Let's say the same nonprofit I mentioned above, a dog rescue, pays their Executive Director $250,000 a year. Even if every dime you donate goes toward rescuing the dogs themselves and the staff who do the actual care and rescuing of the animals, paying an ED that much salary is reckless and irresponsible. The money you have donated isn't going directly towards that ED's salary, but your donation allows the nonprofit to continue to function, and other donations can go toward that reckless salary.

So this is what it boils down to: Saying that 100 percent of what someone donates is going directly to the cause is not a lie, but it is not an honest thing to say either. Fundraising professionals know that a vast majority of donors don't understand how nonprofit finances work, and that phrase is misleading.

We need to nix it from our vocabulary.

#fundraising