November 27, 1997 | Read Time: 6 minutes
Famine Crimes: Politics
By Alex de Waal
Africans must forge their own solutions to starvation in their countries, writes Mr. de Waal. He faults international-relief efforts for impeding local solutions and for working with authoritarian regimes that ignore famine or that use it to their advantage.
Mr. de Waal, co-director of the London-based group African Rights, argues that humanitarian-aid programs have abetted the abuse of power by certain African governments. Donors have unwittingly caused damage in countries such as Somalia and Zaire, he says, because efforts there portrayed famine as an inevitable result of corrupt leadership, not as a problem that could be managed by holding leaders accountable.
Famine relief is also inextricably tied to foreign military intervention, he writes — a pas de deux that stymies self-determination.
The key to ameliorating famine lies in such efforts as the Botswana Drought Relief Programme, which effectively headed off the effects of drought in that country in the early 1980s because the Botswanan government held service providers accountable, writes Mr. de Waal.
Relief agencies should work to support such local programs, he says, rather than impose their own agendas. He writes that only Africans can improve their situations.
“When famine prevention is recognized as a human right, and fought for using the sorts of political structures that exist when human rights are respected, then famine can be conquered,” he says. “Humanitarianism that sets itself against or above politics is futile.”
Publisher: Indiana University Press, 601 North Morton Street, Bloomington, Ind. 47404-3797; (812) 855-4203 or (800) 842-6796; fax (812) 855-8507; 238 pages; $39.95 cloth, $16.95 paper; I.S.B.N. 0-253-33367-9, cloth; I.S.B.N. 0-253-21158-1, paper.
Leading Without Power: Finding Hope in Serving Community
By Max De Pree
At a time when non-profit groups are being urged to take up the lean and mean practices of corporate America, this author touts philanthropic organizations as models for all to emulate.
“Their vision of a brisk and virtuous society brings us all health and respect and a yearning to reach for our own potential,” writes Mr. De Pree.
The qualities that mark effective leaders of non-profit organizations — selfless behavior, forgiveness, and foresight — are the same ones that temper effective leaders in all areas of society, he writes. He directs this book of anecdotes and advice at both captains of industry and ministers of charity.
He writes of the need for leaders who set good examples by their personal conduct, recounts individuals from whom he drew inspiration, and defines attributes that he says separate a group with a strong sense of morality — a “movement,” as he terms it — from a mere “organization.” The book, by its own admission, offers no nuts-and-bolts advice for managing a non-profit group but is intended instead to spark discussion.
Mr. De Pree is chairman emeritus of the office-furniture company Herman Miller and serves on the advisory board of the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management.
Publisher: Jossey-Bass, 350 Sansome Street, San Francisco 94104-1310; (415) 433-1767 or (800) 956-7739; fax (800) 605-2665; World-Wide Web http://www.jsseybass.com; 192 pages; $20; I.S.B.N. 0-7879-1063-5.
Marketing Workbook for Nonprofit Organizations Volume II: Mobilize People for Marketing Success
By Gary J. Stern
This book aims to show non-profit groups how to turn everyone in their organizations, from the occasional volunteer to the executive director, into eloquent and effective promoters and fund raisers.
“Most non-profits make asking [for support] the province of a small corps of staff specialists and the rare volunteer,” writes Mr. Stern, a consultant. “No matter how dedicated or skilled, a handful of people can never keep up.”
He offers 10 steps to help non-profit groups execute a successful “promotion campaign” — for garnering members, funds, or publicity — by making all employees and supporters adept at the one-on-one pitch.
The workbook’s first part covers planning the campaign; its second tells how to implement it. Among the steps that Mr. Stern outlines are setting goals and time lines, offering motivational training, and providing rewards for exceptional effort.
Appendixes include exercises designed to bolster the marketing skills of the campaign’s participants, and worksheets that correspond to each of Mr. Stern’s 10 steps. A pocket-sized guide that contains motivational messages is also included.
Publisher: Amherst H. Wilder Foundation, Publishing Center, 919 Lafond Avenue, St. Paul 55104-2198; (612) 659-6024 or (800) 274-6024; fax (612) 642-2061; World-Wide Web http://www.wilder.org; 208 pages; $25 plus $4 postage and handling; I.S.B.N. 0-940069-10-5.
Private Foundations: Tax Law and Compliance
By Bruce R. Hopkins and Jody Blazek
This book is a guide for lawyers and accountants who seek more information on the tax regulations governing private foundations.
Although tax specialists work mostly with other types of non-profit groups, the authors say, the number of private foundations seeking counsel continues to grow. What’s more, with the creation of new penalties by the Internal Revenue Service to check financial impropriety at a broad range of charities, an understanding of the laws that govern private foundations becomes increasingly germane. For example, the authors point out that the “intermediate sanctions” that can now be levied against charity board members and executives grew out of an existing law that monitors shady dealings at private funds.
Mr. Hopkins and Ms. Blazek explain the myriad laws that oversee self dealing, excess business holdings, disqualified persons, and termination of foundation status. They also detail revisions to such laws, which the I.R.S. regularly issues in private determinations, letter rulings, and assorted memoranda.
Among other areas covered in the book: private-foundation incorporation, mandatory distributions, taxable expenditures, tax on investment income, unrelated business income, charitable-giving rules, administrative issues, and the relationship between private foundations and charities.
Appendixes list relevant sections of the Internal Revenue Code, as well as related cases. The text is augmented with sample forms, checklists, expenditure agreements, and other documents. Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Avenue, New York 10158; (212) 850-6336; 498 pages; $125; I.S.B.N. 0-471-16892-0.
OTHER PUBLICATIONS
Managing Special Event Risks: 10 Steps to Safety is a booklet from the Nonprofit Risk Management Center and the Nonprofits’ Insurance Alliance of California designed to help non-profit groups reduce the risk of someone’s suffering an injury or other mishap at a fund-raising or promotional event. The guide covers how to plan for emergencies, purchase insurance, provide security, and share risk through such contractual measures as “hold harmless” agreements and participant waivers. A short chapter offers tips on how to deal with the news media in the event that something should go wrong. Available from the Nonprofit Risk Management Center, 1001 Connecticut Avenue, N.W., Washington 20036; (202) 785-3891; fax (202) 833-5747; e-mail info@nonprofitrisk.org; World-Wide Web http://www.nnprofitrisk.org; 54 pages; $12.
1997-1998 Guide to Chicagoland Charities & Non-Profit Organizations, by Michael Weiskirch, is a directory of more than 100 non-profit groups in the metropolitan Chicago area that is intended for use by people who wish to contribute their time and money. The guide briefly explains different ways to give and to volunteer and then provides summaries of organizations that support animals, arts and culture, crime prevention, education, the environment, health care, homeless people, international causes, job-training and placement programs, and social services. A 1998 calendar of local fund-raising events is also included. Publisher: Icare Cause Marketing, 1249 Stratford Road, Deerfield, Ill. 60015; (847) 405-9604; 21 pages; free.
