The don'ts of being a donor

By Nancy Jernigan

executive director

Area Wide United Way

Charitable giving and planning is an excellent way to ensure that the causes that interest you are continued on after you are unable to donate in person. However, while charitable giving is a great idea, there are some things of which you should be aware.

Don't restrict gifts to specific programs

When reviewing nonprofit organizations, it is tempting to identify subsets of their work that are most personally appealing and restrict a donation to those purposes. Donors should recognize that confidence in the management and general direction of an organization is far more important both to the overall success of the organization as well as its ability to perform on the specific, preferred program.

These managers are closest to the action, and, once donors decide their organizations are worthy of their gift, donors trust managers and organizations' governance leadership to know how those organizations can best respond.

By restricting gifts, donors may also restrict the flexibility of managers to adapt strategies to a changing environment. They also could be compelling cash-strapped managers to resort to dysfunctional, grant-chasing strategies that respond more to the vagaries of donor interest than to the evolving needs of beneficiaries.

Don't wait to be asked

Unlike resource allocation in the business world, where investors and companies seek out one another in an information-rich environment, philanthropy is largely a one-way street. By waiting to be asked, donors do several unproductive things. They:

* Base their contributions on non-objective factors such as impulse or guilt;

* Fail to evolve personal philanthropic strategies that yield a more effective allocation of their resources;

* Default to supporting nationally-based organizations with the capital resources necessary to mount direct-mail and telemarketing campaigns, perhaps shortchanging less capital-rich but nonetheless deserving local organizations; and

* Perpetuate costly national fundraising practices.

Don't give sporadically

In order to become a regular, committed donor, it is important to develop sufficient knowledge about and comfort with organizations.. However, before becoming regular givers, donors should follow the guide above and make sure the organization:

* Performs work that they deem important and operates in a manner that is congruent with their values;

* Articulates well its own objectives and accomplishments;

* Has requisite resources and/or strategy to achieve its objectives; and

* Reveals its operations and finances for public scrutiny.

Consider supporting local charities that have strengthened our community over the years and helped thousands of individuals and families in many ways. Contact Leave A Legacy of the Heartland for more information. Visit the Web site at www.leavealegacyheartland.org.