Opinion: Charity Changes Might Signal Time for ‘Divorce’

No matter how loyal a donor might be to a charity, it often makes sense to stop supporting a group when its goals no longer jibe with a donor’s or volunteer’s views, writes The Wall Street Journal.

Karen Blumenthal, a columnist for the newspaper, writes that she is “divorcing” First Book, a national literacy charity she and her family have supported for nearly a decade, as its national office centralized many former local functions and ratcheted up fund-raising demands on community chapters. She notes that she understands the changes the group made to be more efficient but said her local group was unable to meet the new standards.

She quotes nonprofit professionals who recommend donors and volunteers watch for signs of “mission creep” and monitor how receptive a charity’s central office is to supporters’ concerns.