Spread the Wealth
(Page 2 of 2)
September/October 2000
By William Upski Wimsatt, No More Prisons
10. Attack root causes. Self-help isn’t enough. The solution to many social problems demands changing the rules of the system as a whole. Yet the organizations that have the hardest time getting money are the ones fighting to change the system. These groups are where your money will go the furthest.
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11. Fund doers, not grant writers. I am drawn to people who are more interested in doing their work than in raising money. These people are usually not good fund raisers. So I give them a copy of Kim Klein’s incredible fund-raising video series along with my money. Let the savvy and sophisticated fund raisers get their money from someone else.
12. Foster combinationism. Support people who combine fields—they aren’t just into art, they aren’t just into politics, they aren’t just into science, but instead they blend the strengths and insights of many fields.
13. Go for net gains. Funding an ex-con to become a community organizer is a bigger net gain for society than funding someone with a college degree. The college student can get another good job. The ex-con prob-ably can’t.
14. Pay general operating expenses. If you really believe in an organization, help it buy a building so it can become sustainable and quit paying rent to a landlord. Don’t dictate how it should spend the money.
15. Trust what inspires you.
Excerpted with permission from No More Prisons.
More from Billy Wimsett in Cafe Utne.
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