Yesterday I posted about the massive $1.4 Million grant that Presbyterian Disaster Assistance received and the questions I have surrounding the award and how the public can
measure the return on that investment. This morning I came across an article
from Mother Jones covering similar issues, specifically: "What
Happened To The Money Occupy Sandy Raised?"
The article examines a growing discontent over how some organizations,
specifically Occupy Sandy, have, through a perceived lack of transparency and
community inclusion, not been honest about how the remainder of Sandy donations
are going to be dispersed, when, and to whom on the Rockaway Peninsula.
A Train service restored to Rockaway Peninsula (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) |
The article also points out that there is no clear picture of how
the money that has been raised by Occupy Sandy has been spent; this is due to a
lack of tracking and documentation, an oversight that almost every spontaneous
group succumbs to in the craziness of response and something that needs to
addressed as a part of community preparedness moving forward.
What’s happening in the mid-Atlantic region is a shift from response
to recovery, and with that the recognition that the coffers that were once brimming with an
unprecedented number of donations from individuals, groups, and foundations, are now beginning to run low. Coupled with this dip is the understanding that beyond federal funding
for beach restoration and mitigation projects, remains a list of projects that need
time, attention, and most of all…money.
What this is creating is a catch-22 situation that centers on the
idea of fiduciary stewardship. Throwing money off the back of the
proverbial truck just because you have it and are being pressured to spend it, isn't the right approach...those who get it will be happy, those who don't will
vilify you for not doing your due diligence in identifying the best way to
stretch the limited dollars that are left. Yet the longer you hold onto the
funds to identify innovative ways to stretch the remaining cash to impact as
many people as possible, the more people scream about secrecy and exclusionary
practices.
This catch 22 is fueled by the idea that your mission and operational focus is the most important and as such, you should be given the money to continue your work--given this rationale, satisfying everyone isn't possible. So in that regard, I can see why Occupy is taking their time,
because once that money is gone…it’s gone, so why not take the time needed to ensure that it goes as far as possible and advances the recovery of as many as possible. Occupy Sandy's actions to this point give
me no reason to believe that they will do anything other than what they’ve
stated, which is transition the funding to local groups in the best, most
responsible way possible (that’s me paraphrasing).
However, Occupy Sandy doesn’t get off scot-free. I believe those
individuals and organizations that are dissatisfied with the lack of
transparency and communication around how the remaining funds are to be spent
and when, have every right to be vocal about their discontent. Saying
inflammatory statements however is counter-productive and discredits the work that has been accomplished because you disagree with how long its taking to disperse money:
“ If Occupy Sandy doesn't tell the Rockaways community how it plans to spend the rest of the money, I personally believe they have outstayed their welcome.” (see linked article for context)
What many fail to recognize is that before the storm made landfall,
Occupy Sandy didn’t exist; just like the other hundred or so groups that came
about to solve community problems caused/exacerbated by the storm. While I appreciate the
scrutiny being applied to Occupy in an effort to "keep them honest," lets not forget about the army of established
non-profit organizations that came to the area and received significant
donations as well. I haven't seen one article asking for an accounting of where/how those groups spent their donations and their the ones who are supposed to be model for how groups like Occupy Sandy learn to do response better. It would be interesting to put the same resources and scrutiny applied to Occupy Sandy to some of the more established disaster response non-profits who responded and compare and contrast findings.
All that to say, Occupy Sandy, get a plan for how you intend to spend the remaining money and publish an accounting of
what you've spent and where thus far…if you don’t know, then tell us…you're not the first Spontaneous organization to be overwhelmed and not put the effort needed into tracking and documenting donations, and you won't be the last. And for those who are demanding
answers, good for you…but remember that there are other organizations out there
with track records of disaster response who also received copious amounts of
donor dollars flying under the radar, why not ask for an accounting of their donations received vs. dollars spent on community programming...you might be surprised by what you find.
No comments :
Post a Comment