I’ve been raising money since I sold sweet and sour lollipops in junior high school, for the travel expenses of my debate team…which means that I’ve been a grassroots fundraiser for over twenty years. About a decade ago I learned about Kim Klein and the Grassroots Fundraising Journal, both an incredible resource for grassroots fundraisers (seriously, if you want to raise money for anything and you don’t have a subscription to the Grassroots Fundraising Journal, get one, you will NOT be sorry). Kim Klein is a fundraising guru. She helped professionalize the field of grassroots fundraising and she played a big role in demystifying fundraising, shedding light on the fact that fundraising is likely something we’ve all engaged in and no, it isn’t just asking your local millionaire for a $2 million gift so that their name can go on a plaque in the bathroom.What’s interesting about Kim is that she’s taken a real turn in the last couple of years. Her writing and actions have increasingly focused on increasing revenue to the government, advocating that the government to take back some of the work that has been slowly taken over by non-profits. Kim wrote this article in January, but it seems particularly interesting given the discussion that’s been happening at the federal level about cutting services and maintaining tax cuts for the wealthy. In this article, she makes a strong case for getting rid, or at least modifying, tax benefits for charitable giving. What do folks think about that? What is the role of non-profits in this conversation?Kim Klein isn’t the only person weighing in on the subject. Read what consultant Kelly Kleinman has to say on the subject, and check out Warren Buffet’s recent thought provoking New York Times editorial about taxes and the super-rich.
