A Revolutionary Idea

I am in Santa Barbara, California (I know, rough gig) to speak at Direct Relief International's Shareholders' Meeting.

A shareholder's meeting for a non-profit? I had never heard of this and wanted to see how it worked.

Apparently, once a year, Direct Relief International invites all of their donors and partners to a meeting. At this meeting, Direct Relief reviews their finances and program activities for the previous year, allowing donors to ask questions about where their money went, and how it was spent.

Direct Relief International believes that because of their special non-profit status (enjoyed by over a million other organizations) they have a special obligation to be accountable to all taxpayers. Additionally, they feel that it's important that, like a for-profit corporation, they should hear from the people who in effect buy into their organization with their donations, and that those people should have a voice in the future direction of their charitable activities.

A charity running itself like a business, being accountable and transparent to all who give it money?

Donors getting to ask questions of their charity, to find out how their dollars were spent, and hearing from management about how they would spend any future monies?

The two sitting down together, talking about expectations, results, and goals, and making plans to work together to ensure that the charity is successful and the donors feel not only valued, but effective, in ensuring that their dollars are best spent by a reputable, accountable, and transparent organization?

This I have to see.