Local Funding of NGOs
The Citizen yesterday had a story on local funding of Genesis yesterday in the paper, where County officials accused it of breaking a 10 year old agreement that if it accepted County funding, it would not ask for Town funding. I posted about it on GraniteGrok this morning.
This morning, I see that Genesis is whining - or should I be using a stronger word? It seems that if they don't get the $6.700 that was cut, they will have to cut services in August. Sure, a multimillion dollar operation will have to shut its door because our elected leaders decided to only give them a 10% higher "donation" than last year?
Since when does an NGO DEMAND tax dollars? For that is effectively what they are doing - fork it over or we shut the doors! Certainly, they do not seem to be content with what is being given to them.
What would you say if someone came to your door, asked for a donation, accepted a $20 bill, and then looked up at you and said "That's not enough - I want more!" Is that right?
This is an organization that says it is a charity....but from the Citizen articles, it is acting as if it is "owed" that money for work that it does on its own even though no one has said that they had to. If they decide to give services to people, that is their decision and not one that should automatically make them deserving of more.
Taxpayer money should never be seen as an entitlement.
They do bill people for services...and the Feds, and the State. "Donations" come from the County and the local Towns, and from individuals. It is their decision, as a charity, to assist those that they cannot bill. Just like the rest of us, they will learn to live within their means. Doing good works is not a sufficiently good reason to expect that taxpayers are required to fund all their activities.
If the services are so important, the right kinds of people should be willing to stand up and write a check. If not, do not provide those services. Private fund raising for charities is as it should be. Not via coerced tax dollars.
Charities used to be thankful for donations....is this a turning point?
