Comments on: Social Impact Exchange http://www.tacticalphilanthropy.com/2009/12/social-impact-exchange Fri, 09 Dec 2011 20:42:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Sean Stannard-Stockton http://www.tacticalphilanthropy.com/2009/12/social-impact-exchange/comment-page-1#comment-8353 Sean Stannard-Stockton Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:17:51 +0000 http://tacticalphilanthropy.com/2009/12/social-impact-exchange#comment-8353 Good question Justin. I can't speak for George, but in my mind, there is an appropriate degree of transparency vs. protecting an organization. For instance, if a small nonprofit's executive director quits, do they have a responsibility to inform all their donors immediately? Probably not. But a public company does. I'm a strong advocate for transparency, but I'm also sensitive to the idea that it can be damaging for smaller organizations to tell everyone their internal issues all the time. My point in the post was just that the Exchange offers a platform whereby a nonprofit can get broader exposure, but will need to conform to reporting standard that go beyond legal requirements. Good question Justin. I can’t speak for George, but in my mind, there is an appropriate degree of transparency vs. protecting an organization. For instance, if a small nonprofit’s executive director quits, do they have a responsibility to inform all their donors immediately? Probably not. But a public company does.

I’m a strong advocate for transparency, but I’m also sensitive to the idea that it can be damaging for smaller organizations to tell everyone their internal issues all the time. My point in the post was just that the Exchange offers a platform whereby a nonprofit can get broader exposure, but will need to conform to reporting standard that go beyond legal requirements.

]]> By: Justin Berk http://www.tacticalphilanthropy.com/2009/12/social-impact-exchange/comment-page-1#comment-8349 Justin Berk Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:42:33 +0000 http://tacticalphilanthropy.com/2009/12/social-impact-exchange#comment-8349 "George’s point is that most nonprofits are the equivalent of privately held companies, who may be damaged if they share too much of their internal issues with the public." Why is this so? I always thought of private companies withholding information to keep a competitive edge. Frankly, in the non-profit sector I think more accountability is exactly what we need. Maybe the organizations that withhold information on "internal issues," need some public pressure to force them to fix the problems, instead of continuing not to report them. “George’s point is that most nonprofits are the equivalent of privately held companies, who may be damaged if they share too much of their internal issues with the public.”

Why is this so? I always thought of private companies withholding information to keep a competitive edge.

Frankly, in the non-profit sector I think more accountability is exactly what we need. Maybe the organizations that withhold information on “internal issues,” need some public pressure to force them to fix the problems, instead of continuing not to report them.

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