Small Charities Don’t Need More Regulations

To the Editor:

As a nonprofit “leader” on the local level, I was concerned to see that The Chronicle showcased the opinion of Trent Stamp of Charity Navigator in the first part of the article, “Election 2004: What Nonprofit Leaders Want” (November 11).

The statement that nonprofits are in need of tighter scrutiny and more regulations is simply wrong for the vast majority of charities in this country. The Chronicle could have chosen another issue, such as the reduction of social services that impact the neediest citizens.

I resent that the two charities I have run since 1998 have been forced to comply with increasing levels of oversight headaches without having committed any improper action. Never have we violated any existing regulation or betrayed our donors’ trust by mismanaging funds. Why should we be subject to more regulations by a “Securities and Exchange Commission” of the nonprofit world? The concept has me seeing my agency’s management and general costs go up, the very thing I work to reduce year after year.

Small, community nonprofits are often getting amazing results on a shoestring budget. I would challenge most businesses to accomplish what we do with twice the funds. We are paying the price for the mega-charity scandals of the United Way and American National Red Cross.

How about finding a way to exempt exceptional nonprofits, oftentimes small and community-based with clean track records, from burdensome regulations so they can get back to the work of helping people? We need to put our slim budgets into direct services, not more expensive audits and triplicate paper trails.

Andrea E. Morris
Executive Director
Community Council for the Homeless at Friendship Place
Washington