About Nonprofits, Volunteering, Giving and Being Smart

          I'm sure that we all have noticed the sheer number of nonprofit organizations or those who claim nonprofit status. We can see how nonprofits are being set up for every cause imaginable and it does not look like this trend is going to stop. We are asked for donations and are promised that if we give our financial contributions will do great things. We are offered volunteer opportunities and are told that our volunteering will make a tremendous difference for a cause and will change our lives through our becoming part of a dedicated, hard-working, valued team of people. Nonprofits "court" us through seeking to win our trust so that we will support them with our awareness efforts, our donations and our volunteer time, promising us that we will "belong" to their "community."
          On social networks, people who run nonprofits as CEO's are who have official volunteer status, now fill the networks, including my own. It seems that the majority of people in my network have ties to nonprofits in some form or other; those who don't seem to be in the minority. I have mixed feeling about having so many people in my network. I appreciate and admire their advocacy and devotion on behalf of their singular passions, causes and missions. But the trade-off for that is the knowledge that while I do well with such folks IF they see that I'm supporting them and their agendas, that this is as far as it goes as far as online friendship goes. I know that any friendship I enjoy with such people is solely based on their causes and agendas and is not about friendship in the strict, social sense. These are people who use social networks for reasons other than social networking which to them is only a means to an end. To me, it is sad that we live in a world that we have to spend so much time and energy meeting needs that we feel that we lack time for friendhip for its own sake.
          Whether CEO's of nonprofits or official volunteers (especially if called "senior" volunteers), I have noticed the love, admiration, cameraderie, trust and caring that such people enjoy, especially if their ties are with nonprofits that are highly regarded. And so much of that high regard of some nonprofits, even ones that are not well-established or proved, is based mainly on what these nonprofits promise or claim they do or will do. I have visited many sites and have seen "Donate" buttons and offers for volunteer opportunities, but which don't always provide even basic information that a public which they ask for donations from is owed, such as the nonprofit's fund distribution (and how much actually goes for their stated missions), where donations are used, how they are used, the nonprofit's by-laws, and its screening policies for employees and volunteers. And yet we are so quck to offer both our time and our money to nonprofits based on their claims and their promises without "reading the fine print" of the nonprofit. Nonprofits reserve the right to run background checks on us when we want to be admitted to their teams as volunteers and to demand sensitive information, so we have the right to expect accountability and transparency from them.
          To illustrate my point, let me share something of my own experiences with nonprofits. First, there are my positive experiences. Many years ago, I applied to a local agency and am still "volunteering" with a couple of its clients, though the original program has dissolved through lack of funds. The other nonprofit I deal with is a large, well-established one where I sponsor a child in the country of Mexico. These experiences have been challenging and rewarding.
          Unfortunately, my experiences with nonprofits have often been negative and have been the sources of personal pain and depression. Years ago, I applied to volunteer my time with a local crisis pregnancy center that served those facing unplanned or unwanted pregnancies. My application process seemed to be satisfactory and so, to "keep it real," I disclosed my Marfan's Syndrome (which affects heart, eyes and joints) and at a separate time, my epilepsy. A month after I began my volunteer work there, I was terminated and my termination was witnessed by another volunteer who tape-recorded me without my permission. And I was told that I was not a "good fit" for the nonprofit.
          More recently, over two years on social networks and two separate times, I applied to nonprofits, both not well-established, relatively new and both which I learned about online only and which seemed to have only an online presence. Both nonprofits have "courted" me, seeking to win my trust through their friendliness and expressed appreciation of my support and hard work on their behalf. I wanted to "step up" my involvement as "just a supporter," and wanted to be admitted to volunteer status. So two separate times, I applied and because there were disability-related questions both times, to "keep it real," I disclosed my self-diagnosed autism spectrum condition, Marfan's Syndrome and epilepsy. Both times, I was asked to surrender my Social Security Number (SS#); while the CEO's and staunch supporters of these nonprofits had initially been friendly to me, after I was refused as an applicant, each time, I was "dropped like a hot potato," just as a boy who wants intercourse with a girl treats her when he is through with her. Both of these experiences have caused me much personal grief, depression and which forced me to re-live my past, questioning whether ANYONE could be trusted.
          Of course, I know that my bad experiences are largely because I applied to nonprofits that were not sympathetic to my life experiences and which were not well-established, well-funded or proved. I had believed their glowing claims about themselves and the claims of their supporters without seeing the results of their work. In the case of the two nonprofits I more recently applied to, there has been very little accountability or transparency on the part of either one. If anyone reading this wants to volunteer time with a nonprofit, know that in this era of background checks (thanks to the unethical, even criminal acts of volunteers or employees), you can expect to be required to surrender your SS# to "prove who you are" and you may be asked for other sensitive personal information; online searches may even be done to dig up "digital dirt" on you. And if, as I do, you have invisible disabilites that are widely misunderstood or stigmatized, you cannot count on the nonprofit to respond to your self-disclosure of your situation with empathy or support. This is not to discourage anyone from applying to volunteer your time, as long as you know that you "have the stuff" they are looking for and have done your homework about the nonprofit.
          Yes, I know that every nonprofit has the right and the duty to carefully screen those who want to gain access to them through wanting to be received as official volunteers. This holds especially true in these days of our culture of lies and deception and high-profile exposure of too many unethical, even criminal acts of volunteers. In these days of increasing lack of trust and background checks, it is easy to be soured out on the very idea of volunteering and giving to nonprofits. Though nonprofits promise us a sense of belonging and community through volunteering or giving, we need to remember that nonprofits are NOT our friends and that we are only a means to the end of their protecting and serving their clients and furthering their interests as nonprofits and that they will value us only if they see that we can benefit them. And I have found this out the hard, painful way!
          I realize that some organizations, like those that serve families with missing loved ones or which seek to identify deceased people, have to "keep close to the vest" and be close-mouthed about many matters to protect investigations. But ANY nonprofit that asks for donations from the public or that asks applicants sensitive personal information like SS#'s and the like, owe the public transparency and accountability! Based on my own, painful personal experience with certain nonprofits and based on others' experiences that I have read about, I discourage anyone from applying to ANY nonprofit that require you to sign vaguely-worded, sweeping waivers and confidentiality agreements that are set up solely to protect nonprofits and reduce THEIR liability while increasing YOURS. Such agreements are meant to "gag" you from exposing any unethical or unlawful practices or which "cover their rear-ends" if your experience with them should turn out to be a bad one. And I encourage anyone to be leery of ANY nonprofit that insists on your SS# and other personal information without providing transparency or accountability concerning themselves. After all, the Bible tells us to be "harmless as "doves" but also to be as "wise as serpents."
          Yes, we are to give of our time, our talents, our skills and our resources. But there are many options to give and to share and many opportunities. Kindness, giving and sharing do not have to equal stupidity or being taken advantage of. Volunteering and giving can be wonderful, rewarding experiences for us as well as blessings to those we serve when we are discerning as well as generous. Below are links to sites that empower us to be discerning as we seek to give and to share. Please take the time to check them out.

http://www.charitynavigator.org/
This website provides comprehensive information about nonprofits in general and databases about many specific nonprofits. Not every nonprofit is evaluated there and we are not to read anything into that except that we are better-off to try to stick to nonprofits that are easy to evaluate and that are listed. My opinion.

http://www.bbb.org/Find-Business-Reviews
This is the Better Business Bureau website where we can find information about nonprofits that are listed with it and where we can file complaints about nonprofits (and for-profits) that we see engaging in unethical practices.

http://www.irs.gov/
This is the website for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). There is a "Charities and Nonprofits" tab there with much information about nonprofits and tax-exempt status in general. There is also a search tool, "Exempt Organizations Select Check" where you enter the basic data for a nonprofit and you can see if it is officially registered with the IRS.

http://privacyrights.org/
This website has much information about issues of privacy and as these pertain to other related issues.