“I am, obviously, the biggest believer in flexible funding for non-profits. Organizations are constantly having to fundraise to support their operations and programming. There are so many misconceptions people have about where their dollars go, versus where they think they should go. A lot of our members are really skilled at what they do. They’ve been doing it for a while. They have deep relationships in the communities they serve.

My sense is that there is no lack of need in our community. Organizations struggle to meet the current demands for their services. Our community members face many challenges (affordable housing, childcare, healthcare, and more), and we don’t have enough people and resources to address those issues.

So why do funders put unreasonable restrictions on how community organizations can use those dollars? There are more organizations in our community that are financially struggling than people realize. They are looking good on the surface and they are working their butts off to fundraise and figure it out. It’s demoralizing for their staff and for their leadership. The expectation is that they’re going to provide the services to this community. But then what does the community do to support that organization providing those services? Let our nonprofits do what they do best. Let them figure out how they’re going to best invest those dollars.”

Bhumika Patel is the Deputy Director of the Human Service Chamber of Franklin County