Websites, religion, and social service.

Hi again everyone. So last week was a huge learning experience for me again in class. The entire class went to the library and there we learned about all the websites that are great links to nonprofit organizations. It is amazing to me, even after learning of the magnitude of the sector, that there are entire websites devoted to this whole sector. I probably could find anything I ever wanted to know about any nonprofit that interested me and even read there IRS 990 forms. I’m actually really looking forward to using these websites more in depth in our first assignment, coming up here in the next week. So that was class and reading was a whole other learning experience this week. The first chapter I read was about religion and its’ role in the nonprofit sector. Now I am going to be completely honest, I was kind of shocked to learn that religious organizations, churches, synagogues, temples, congregations, were all a part of the nonprofit sector. I would have always assumed that they were there own separate thing all together and not only that they are the largest part of the sector! Now one thing I do disagree with is that religious organizations do not have to register or file reports/paperwork with the IRS. My question is why not? Are they not a part of the nonprofit sector? And don’t a majority, if not all, of nonprofits have to register or file reports? Now I might learn this I continue further in the class but I just do not understand why this is. Anyways, I was also kind of shocked to learn that $85 billion dollars was approximately estimated to the given to religion, through donations, in 2000. This really made me think about how that number today is significantly higher and how religion really does have such an impact on the lives of so many and even though America does not try to make a big deal about religion, it is still one thing, especially through this sector, that keeps this country the they it is. My favorite part of the reading was reading about how much of a societal impact religion has. Now there was a lot that I wanted to disagree with, but I had to agree with. There were also things that if I had the power to change I would. For example, how much religion does play a huge role in politics, education and activism. Overall I think religion almost plays too big of a role in the nonprofit sector. Now that may be a biased response just based on my own beliefs but I think that it has more power and uses it to its’ full extent. I also read about the nonprofit sector in relation to social services. There was a quote in the book that said that nonprofit social service agencies are generally small and this kind of caught me a little off guard. I personally see this aspect of the sector as having the largest impact and being the biggest but I guess I was wrong. When I think of social service agencies, like Red-Cross, Meals on Wheels, the YMCA, I think of those to be huge agencies that help so many and effect so much of American society that it was interesting to learn, that they might not be as big as they appear to be. I think this truly is the greatest aspect of the nonprofit sector and the aspect I am really interested in and want to get to know more about. This is a continuing to be a huge learning experience that will only continue to grow. So, so long for now and see you talk to you all in a couple of weeks.

A little about me.

Hi everyone. My name is Jacob Rahn and I am a sophomore at the University of Oregon. This term I am enrolled in 'PPPM (Planning, Public Policy and Management) 280: Intro to the Nonprofit Sector' and I have been assigned to reactions to our reading of the book Nonprofit Nation: A New Look at the Third America by Michael O’Neill. I am taking this course as a requirement for my PPPM minor, but I am very excited to learn all about nonprofit organizations. I know almost nothing about the nonprofit sector, including what makes an organization nonprofit or how the nonprofit sector effects society. I feel very intrigued by this subject and look forward to learning more about this huge part of the world society. I hope to come to a better understanding of this sector and take my knowledge of it and hopefully use it in my everyday life.
I am going to be begin my blogging reacting to what we have learned and read during this week in class. In class and the readings we did this week all focused on the nonprofit sector itself and some history that went along with it, as well as, the federal laws and coding that nonprofit organizations receive. After doing the reading and listening to lecture, I found it so unbelievable how large a part of the entire society nonprofits take up. It was interesting to learn how organizations of philanthropy began way back in the 1600s and because of John Harvard creating a library in 1638; this whole new part of the world society was created. I was surprised, while learning about when various nonprofits were established how many I never took the time to think about how long they had actually been around, including the Salvation Army, YMCA, ASPCA, just to name a few. This showed to me that nonprofit organizations will only continue to grow and the support for them will increase tremendously. The second half of lecture was focused on federal laws and IRS coding for nonprofits. This was very interesting to me because I had no idea that there was actual large set of laws and coding that defined and classified various nonprofits. I still am a little confused on some of the laws and coding, as well as, when a donation is tax deductable and all those other things, but I think as I get further into the class I will hopefully come to a more clear understanding.
Now getting into the reading, it was interesting to read about the charity of nonprofits and how that truly is one of the main focuses of the sector. Before this class, I had not made the distinction between nonprofits and charity and so by reading this I understand that they are essentially the same thing. It was amazing to read that most charitable giving goes to religion. The book states that in 2000 $74 billion went to religion, which is equivalent to 37 percent of all giving that year. This shows to me that, at least in America, we are very focused and take our religion very seriously. I personally do not agree with the fact that most of our charitable donations should go to religion, but the great thing about having millions of nonprofit/charitable organizations in this country is that I don’t have to give my money to a religious organization, even though most individuals are. I was also a little surprised when I read that single women gave to nonprofit organizations more so than did single men. I can see how this may be true, but I can also see this being dependent on the organization. If I had a list of all the nonprofits that one could donate too, it would be interesting to consider how many nonprofits are more focused towards men and how many are more focused towards women. Another thing I found very interesting and something I never really thought about before, was how nonprofits change depending on where they are located. Meaning, a nonprofit food bank would not be found in an upper middle class area because a food bank would not generally be needed there. This makes the nonprofits almost diverse in there work and it is now interesting to think about nonprofits as things that change based on their location, because before I had not thought about them in that sense. In conclusion, the book states that the nonprofit sector is “large, diverse, and powerful,” and not until now have I seen this statement to be nothing but the truth. I am truly excited and eager to learn more about this huge sector of the American life.