Is Paper Chasing Your New Mission?

We’ve all heard it said, “Money is the root of all evil.” And if that is true, I guess it is also one of those “necessary evils” we also hear about.

Money is a necessary means for getting what we need and what we want. Though nonprofits are not in the business to “make a profit” but to “do good”, doing good requires money. And it could be argued that the more money that an organization has, the more good it can do.

I wouldn’t argue with that statement, but for some nonprofits, the mission (the good they seek to do) gets lost in their pursuit of the funds they need to accomplish the good.  

For some nonprofits, the recent recession has resulted in a shift in mission. Instead of focusing their efforts on effective and efficient programs and services that further their missions and seeking funding that that aligns well with their missions, they are focused on paper chasing – going after money anywhere they can find it – with the hope that they can “make it fit”.

A few years back, rapper-turned-business man Percy Robert Miller (aka Master P) released Paper Chasing. I’m no expert on the song, but no one has to be an expert to get the point. Here’s the chorus:

I gotta gets the money
Gotta gets the money cause I needs the cash cash, c'mon geah
I gotta gets the money
Gotta gets the money cause I needs the cash cash, c'mon geah
You know I need the money
Gotta get the money cause I needs the cash cash c'mon
You know I need the money
Gotta get the money cause I needs the cash cash

For a rapper turned business man, this attitude works. But for nonprofits, fundraising has to be about more than “paper chasing”.  

The Association of Fundraising Professionals offers a wealth of information and resources for ethical and effective fundraising.