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The Starvation Cycle
Can nonprofits survive donor demands?
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By Marsha Wallace
DFW Co-Founder
What images are conjured up when you hear the word starvation? You probably picture emaciated bodies, vacant stares and an aura of despair and hopelessness. In the case of a “starving” organization, you may picture non-functioning computers, inadequately trained staff, and a constant fight against insolvency due to lack of funding.
It might surprise you to learn that there is a pervasive and insidious disease afflicting nonprofits of every size and type. It’s called the Nonprofit Starvation Cycle. Ann Goggins Gregory and Don Howard described the cycle in three steps in an article published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review in 2009.
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Read more of Marsha's post on the starvation cycle and why organizations like Guidestar, Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau are asking donors to look beyond the bottom line.
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Featured Program for December
Women's Microfinance Initiative
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Women’s Microfinance Initiative (WMI) is run entirely by women who identified a need and found a smart microfinance solution that transcends the pitfalls of more traditional approaches. WMI eliminates middlemen, provides loans without collateral or interest, and provides training and support to ensure women stay in business. With its approach, WMI gets 100% repayments on loans. Repaid loans return to the loan pool for the next borrowers, thus making the loan process self-sustaining.
DFW’s grant of $45,000 will support a permanent, revolving loan fund that will provide loans to 320 women, but after two years when the women graduate and repay their loans, the funds will become available to another 320 women. The cycle will continue indefinitely.
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3 things you need to know
(about Women's Microfinance Initiative)
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 More than 5 million women in rural Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania are self employed but with no access to financial services. WMI works in small agricultural villages. Village women are extremely hard working, have strong entrepreneurship instincts and leadership qualities, and work cooperatively together. Though not formally educated, they are natural businesswomen: intuitive, innovative, market savvy and able to adjust quickly to changing market conditions and opportunities. Learn More.
The DFW grant of $45,000 is being given for one year but its impact will be felt for years to come. It will seed a loan fund to support 320 women. The women will pay the loan back over a two-year period. When the loan fund has been repaid, another 320 women will be offered loans. The cycle of success and support can continue indefinitely. Learn More.
 In Uganda, Christmas is called Sekukkulu and it is not about giving things, but about giving of yourself. Presence, not presents, is what matters the most. The emphasis is on sharing: food, family and some new clothes. Hospitals discharge patients so they can be with family, work stops, everyone — even those who are not religious throughout the year — go to church together. Learn More. |
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13th Month: We're halfway home!
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We are halfway through the campaign and close to halfway to our donation goal. So far, we've received $60,000 from generous members and donors like you, Friend.
Coming up next week, it's Giving Tuesday — a day dedicated to get us out of holiday shopping mentality and get us thinking unselfishly about others. We urge you to use the #GivingTuesday to be part of the national conversation on the importance of supporting nonprofit organizations.
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Of course, we hope you'll support us and we'll have some extra incentive next week when we announce a matching grant challenge that can double the impact your donation. Watch for an email on #GivingTuesday.
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OPEN MIC NIGHT: If you missed the Google Hangout with co-founders Marsha Wallace and Barb Collins answering questions about our 13th Month Campaign, you can still watch it on demand. That event along with every program hangout, our Day of the Girl panel discussion and the Nicholas Kristof interview are all available for you to view whenever the mood strikes you. Just go to www.youtube.com/dfwevents. To see all our upcoming hangouts and other online events, check out our Google Plus events page where they are all listed. Say "I'm Going" and you'll get emailed as soon as the live hangout link is available for you.
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Springfield (IL) chapters meet
The three chapters in the Springfield area got together on Nov. 5 to hear Susan Koch, the chancellor at the University of Illinois Springfield, talk about international students and studying abroad. Chancellor Koch is a supporter of DFW and said she would love to see a student chapter started at UIS.
Springfield-1 Chapter Leader Anne Capestrain (also a DFW board member) is a big proponent of these kinds of collaborations that feed our desire to advance education, our need for connections and an expanded opportunity to expand our social and community circles.
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