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In 2007 $92.3 billion was spent on gambling and $57.4 billion saved.   A combined total of $149.7 billion.  According to the National Center for Educations Statistics in 2007 8,986,150 undergraduates were attending a 4 year college and it is expected they will have an average cumulative debt of $12,750.   A cost of approximate $114.6 billion. 

College debt is unhealthy for the economy and is approaching a rate of return that many are finding not worth it.  Most colleges and universities are nonprofits and their pricing is approaching a rate that is not sustainable. 

State run education systems are showing to be the best value for the dollar.   Congress should create a gambling and savings opportunity for individuals to bet on the future of students succeeding from a college degree they obtain at a public college.  The return on investment looks a lot brighter when graduating from these public colleges. 

If you want to know what went wrong with our health care system and the best way to fix it, all you have to do is look back a few decades to a time when health care was a community concern, considered as essential as any public utility. It should be again, not just because it makes sense but also because it’s the most profitable way to go.

The irony in the current debate over a “public option” health plan is that we once had a form of socialized medicine. Blue Cross, the most recognizable name, began in 1929 as a tax-exempt insurer covering a community of teachers in Dallas. Blue Shield was started as a tax-exempt insurer to cover employees of mining and lumber companies in the Pacific Northwest, with a group of local doctors providing care through a service bureau.

To continue reading the rest of this article, please follow the hyperlink to the Forbes.com page.

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The tax code has created interesting incentives for all businesses to expand benefits over salary, regardless of whether they are a for-profit or nonprofit.  These benefits may include health, dental, vision, retirement,  adoption and legal.

Unemployment, Medicare and Social Security taxes are tied to the payroll. Payments for benefits lowers the cost for the employer and the employee.

The other aspect to using benefits over salary is the ability of a business to make changes to control the cost.  The taxes are nonnegotiable and it is harder to reduce a persons salary.

The congressional move to tax health benefits just might hurt nonprofit employees more since many chose the benefit route to compensate employees.

Add another non profit theatre group to the list ladies and gentlemen.  This economic downturn has affected everyone but it seems the arts especially hard.  The Lenox, Mass theatre troupe has been the latest theatre to experience serious financial troubles.  It’s problems are so bad that it would need to raise $2.3 million just to make it to March.  They may not even be able to make their payroll for the month.  The problem leaks back to a $4.75 million deficit over the last five years and their liabilities out way their assets by a ration of almost seven to one.  Other theatre companies to go under have been the Beverly, Mass based North Shore Music Theatre and the Boston, Mass Up You Mighty Race Company.

 To read the rest of this article, please follow the hyper link to the Boston Globe’s web-page.

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The marketing by a nonprofit organization to the most important assets the nonprofit has needs to do done with the idea of creating the organizations brand.

The most important asset are individuals.  Win the hearts and souls of individual supporters and they become your best promoters.

Trust and Transparency is the key component to have individuals feel.  It is no longer one message fits all or mass advertising to create volume.

Are you relevant to the individuals that you are reaching?

Keeping the individual  supporters you have, identifying new individual supporters and maximizing your return from the individuals are three simple goals to be measured.

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Faith Base nonprofits have been taking a stronger position of letting the public know they’re the good apple by taking positive actions.

The most recent action has been the promotion of the movie “The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry”  A message of forgiveness and redemption.

The faith base community has taken on the role to save the financial souls of its members.  Not a bad approach when the financial industry and government is pushing to borrow today and pay tomorrow.

I foresee more faith based organizations being created that have at least 5% or more of their funding from individuals.  The faith base community has an unlimited capacity to tap into a pool of supporters to nourish the many in need.

There are a large number of organizations representing various nonprofits in a certain segment of the nonprofit industry.  The Credit Union banking model should be explored by their members to create a Credit Union that would best understand their industry and meet their needs and those of its employees. 

To learn more go to the Credit Union National Association link here. 

It could be the beginning of creating a number of business ventures.  Health insurance, planned giving, and life insurance are just a few suggestions.   

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There is a time when each nonprofit should take a moment for their employees to have fun.  However,  being lavish in their spending for the event is not what should be expected from a nonprofit.  A number of nonprofits seem to be holding two levels of access to its donors and disguise it as a charitable event or staff appreciation.

The staff of the nonprofit and those they serve are the most important people.  While most nonprofits feel they need to take a low profile, the number of larger organizations who are lavishing big benefits to senior staff and donors gives the nonprofit industry a bad view.  Hospitals, Universities and Foundations types are the top three nonprofit organizations creating this problem.  Don’t get me wrong, the majority are OK.  However, the public and Congress only remember the bad apples and laws are passed for all based on the few bad apples.  The nonprofit industry needs to set a standard to operate by before others do it.

A Washington D.C. area non profit, Individual Development Inc., is in trouble with the government.  The District of Columbia is halting referrals to them after they took them to court earlier in the week over health and safety concerns of two of the nonprofit’s homes for the mentally disabled.  This action was taken as a result of an on going concern with the non profit’s facilities. 

To read the article in its entirety, please follow the hyperlink to the Washington Post page.

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It is easy to be overwhelmed with the unknown variables of the economy, donors and expenses.  A way to get control of the situation and turn the organizations paranoia into results is with concurrent planning.  Design a plan base on assumptions that seem doable at the time of implementation and a plan of action for each 1% change in the revenue assumptions.  The key to maximizing the organizations ability to overcome the scary monsters is to implement a plan that addresses the cause that created the paranoia.  ACORN is an example of an organization that has failed to adequately address its demons.  As a result the organization is in a free fall that only time will tell if it will survive.