Sarah Ford | October 21, 2014

Help Move the Nonprofit Sector from an Overhead Myth to an Overhead Solution

By Jacob Harold, President and CEO, GuideStar

In 2013, I joined with colleagues at BBB Wise Giving Alliance and Charity Navigator to write听explaining that 鈥渙verhead ratios鈥 are a poor way to understand nonprofit performance. As you know, these ratios鈥攖he percent of charity expenses that go to administrative and fundraising costs鈥攖ell us nothing about an organization鈥檚 performance against its mission.

We believed that the nonprofit sector was hungry to dispel this 鈥淥verhead Myth.鈥 The field鈥檚听听to the first letter has thunderously affirmed that belief.听Today, we build on that momentum by offering听.听In this second letter we suggest a set of steps nonprofits can take to help us all move beyond the Overhead Myth.听 In simple terms, we must鈥攃ollectively鈥攐ffer donors an alternative. We believe it will take a shared effort to focus donors鈥 attention on what really matters: nonprofits鈥 efforts to make the world a better place.听

Also Read:

Be Part of the Overhead Solution:听An Effort to Measure What Matters Most

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