Week Ten

Budget Plan Brings Big Changes to Tax Incentives for Donors was a tough read because I know shamefully little about taxes and how they work, though I am interested to see how the proposals for the new fiscal year shake out since there has been a lot of controversy around this issue lately with the GOP majority in the House.


I enjoyed Donors and Nonprofits Face a Defining Moment in Responding to a Crisis because it was all about how critical the next ten years will be in the post-recession redefining of economies in the United States and across the world; the same ten years that I and likely many of my peers in this class will be entering the nonprofit workforce. One of the last paragraphs noted how when a crisis is over, it seems natural to want to relax and enjoy the peace again, but that in fact, that's one of the most critical times for growth. The tone wasn't desperate or overly sensationalizing as it could have been, which I appreciated. I also appreciated reading about the social impact bonds in the UK since I think that if it is true that the United States will shift from being the dominant player in the world economy in the next decade, we're going to have rely on the innovations of other developed countries for support if we're going to make it through.

The article A Newly Powerful Grant-Making Force: Artist-Endowed Foundations, like the one before it, was also focused on the changes that could very well occur in the near future. I have done a fair amount of reading on my own about the Smithsonian controversy earlier this year but wasn't entirely aware of the response from the foundations the article mentioned such as those for Andy Warhol and Robert Mapplethorpe - two of my favorite artists. More interestingly, it turns out that Warhol and Robert aren't the only ones with foundations, as the article mentioned there are over 300 others attributed to different artists. Even though we've talked a good amount about foundations in this class, and I even used one for our first assignment, I had never really considered that an artist could start a foundation themselves to continue funding what was important to them in the arts for many years to come. Very cool.

If you're interested to read more about the controversial Hide/Seek show and learn why it elicited such a response, here's a pretty good summary: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/10/AR2011021006633.html

How To Do Good and Prove It: Integrate Social Impact in Your Nonprofit's DNA was an interesting way to wrap-up readings for the term since it kind of gave some tips and tricks about how to move forward with nonprofit work in a clear and definitive way. I'm not sure I entirely agree with the eight word mission statement approach, but I liked the model for how to move from a mission to results.