One of the most important things I tried to get funders to understand was that tangible assets did not make a nonprofit run. Computers, paper, books, markers do not make a community center run. It is wonderful to find funders who will cover the costs of these items but the real work is done by the people. People who have families to support. People who need to get paid. Not only people but things like overhead costs of rent and utilities on the buildings. Money for transportation and childcare.
Donors/funders want to provide money for training materials, but not to pay the trainer. Without a trainer, the materials are pretty useless. They want to provide money for a nonprofit to get community members signed up for healthcare but they don’t want to provide funds to provide the nonprofit employees with healthcare. The real tangible assets in a nonprofit are the people and its time they are supported with living wage salaries and health insurance.
Prompt for January 6is: “Tangible.”. It is brought to you by Prajakta at https://anarmchairperfectionist.wordpress.com/ Use it any way you like. Make sure you stop by Prajakta’s website and say hello to her!
That is so true. The people are what make the nonprofits run.