Foundation grants were not in favor of what INCITE planned to do with the money. This came to show that they would not give them their money if they funded certain events. This comes to show that although they stayed away from state funding they almost did the same thing by accepting foundation grants. If one accepts it though people have said that they " lose perspective on the larger goals of [thier] work" (11). The donors give money to make themselves look good, but they also want to make sure that your terms do not put them in a bad position. Overall instead of including your terms, they regulate them because you become an image of their company or their status.
When they decided to raise their own money they were able to create their own terms not what anyone else told them to. I never really thought about this issue. beofre college I thought that if you get grants then you were able to do it on your own terms. I didnt think that it was entitled to trap you in a box. Why doesn't the government tries to make things better? It's crazy how they just want it to benefit themselves instead of helping out the people.
While reading this reading all I kept thinking about was FAFSA. Let me tell you why. My first semester at UIC I took 15 credit, but the next semester I took less and had to pay. When I read the terms of the Pell Grant I saw that I needed to take more than 15 credit hours to actually receive the money. they made up the terms and I just had to follow them because I didn't have a job soo where was I going to get the money from if my parents barely had enough. however, when I had my daughter I was not able to keep up with 15 credits because I was tired, so I ended up paying. this example is so little but the grant had its terms that impacted me. Yet, I'm sure even bigger organizations struggle with what they want vs. what they want.
Hypothetically, if we were to start our own organization, it is better to start by raising our money ourselves? If you decide to take money from the state and don't agree with their terms is it easy to back out?
Jacquelin,
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this piece on INCITE! I became annoyed over the fact that those who gave them grants tried to tell them what to do with the money, which ultimately were goals that INCITE did not stand for. The issue with receiving grants is that these companies try to trap non profits into completing their own agenda as opposed to those devised by the non profit organizations. It's wrong. Although INCITE went through some turmoil in regards to funding, I'm glad that they ended up fundraising for their campaign on their own. This meant that they did not have to live up to anyone else's standards or expectations besides their own, and they knew that the money they raised was going to fighting a cause THEY believed in!