Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002 | 8:31 a.m.
Editor's note: In August the Where I Stand column is written by guest writers. Today's columnist is Linda Smith, the chief development officer of Opportunity Village, Nevada's largest charity for people with disabilities.
TO MANY PEOPLE, Opportunity Village seems to be the ultimate American success story. From its humble beginnings in a Henderson home in 1954, Opportunity Village now serves nearly 600 people with intellectual disabilities at two campuses, and has changed the lives of countless disabled Southern Nevadans and their families for the better. The fact is, though, that very few charitable entities can ever be deemed completely "successful."
Organizations such as ours can never be called "successful" because our mission never ends. There is no way to measure how well any local charity really does because, in such a rapidly growing area as Southern Nevada, and in this always-changing world, there is no stable barometer to use as a measuring device.
Life has always been difficult for charitable organizations. But since last Sept. 11, it has been harder than ever. After Sept. 11, cash donations at Opportunity Village immediately dropped by 80 percent, our thrift stores became deserted and our phones stopped ringing. Things have certainly improved since then, but we still feel the difference every day.
Charitable donations are down and, yes, many of us in the nonprofit arena are scared. We are faced with incredible challenges in what is now a new world. And, as if people needed more reasons to hoard their money and not trust anyone, we can add the recent Enron and WorldCom financial debacles to the mix. Things aren't looking up for many of us.
Many once-positive charitable fund-raising professionals have now become cynics, saying that money can't be raised in a down economy. But I disagree. I'm wary of self-fulfilling prophecies. I say that, more than ever, this is a time to be generous, not tight-fisted. This is a time to show the world what America is made of, and to show America what Las Vegas is made of.
Americans are the most generous people in the world, as evidenced by the outpouring of contributions after last year's terrorist attacks. But as donations poured in to national relief organizations -- donations that still haven't reached their intended beneficiaries in many cases -- local charities were mostly forgotten.
Competition for the donated dollar has now become more fierce than ever. More entities than ever are vying for donations, from worldwide AIDS relief organizations to our political parties. Even our own state government has asked for donations to fight the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump. There seems to be a new cause to support around every corner, and I believe the vast majority of them are worthwhile.
We can indeed change the world. But the place to start, in my opinion, is right here in our own neighborhood. Nevada has a poor track record when it comes to supporting its charitable entities, so our local nonprofit organizations count on private support more than they might in other states. Fortunately, historically, we live in a very giving community.
In Las Vegas, while individual donations are down, our residents still provide millions of dollars in charitable support. Wonderful buildings that house the Boys and Girls Clubs, Nevada Ballet Theater, Boy Scouts, Opportunity Village and others have sprung up all over town and dot the landscape with good deeds.
So our community has not completely forgotten us. But there are so many choices, and when we live in the fastest-growing city in the nation, our local nonprofits need to be viewed not as beggars asking for alms, but rather as an integral part of the fabric of our city.
I believe that our local charitable organizations, especially ones such as Opportunity Village that don't have national or international support, need to stand up and be counted to make sure that you, the residents of this great community, realize how important our work is to the quality of life here. We have to start "thinking outside the box" to earn your support, and we have to start doing things differently in what is now a different world.
Opportunity Village gives local businesses and governments the opportunity to help people with disabilities and themselves at the same time. In addition to making donations, they can hire Opportunity Village clients to do jobs that are often labor- and time-intensive.
The onus is on the people in my field to shout from the highest mountain the benefits of supporting our local charitable organizations. At Opportunity Village we pride ourselves in saving taxpayers $40 million a year by providing work for people who otherwise would be dependent upon government assistance and on raising 80 percent of our own operating dollars.
I challenge nonprofits to look inward and examine where their donors' dollars go, to be good stewards, spend donations wisely and make sure the entire community knows the benefits of charitable philanthropy. Helping our fellow man is vital to the health of a community, and we in the nonprofit field contribute almost $2 billion annually to this nation's gross domestic product. However, what we provide in human terms can never be measured in dollars. And we need to communicate that fact more effectively.
I ask you, the Las Vegas Sun reader, to reach into your pocket and make a donation to the local Las Vegas charity of your choice today. Dig deep. You'll get a good feeling knowing that you are helping someone right here in the city you call home, that you are making a difference in the life of a person who needs your help, no matter what the charity might be. And in that way, you will make the world a better place for all of us, one person at a time.
archive
