Nicholas Kristof, the great Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times, wrote a piece on Uncharitable yesterday that generated considerable commentary. It is fascinating, exhausting, and exhilarating to me to see how many misconceptions people have about charity - specifically about 1) what "overhead" means, and what it buys and how it contributes to the advancement of causes, and 2) the validity of "efficiency" measures, which , in reality, give the public dangerous and useless information. The reason its exhilarating is simply because it is not that difficult to change people's minds when they are simply working off of the wong facts.
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I just ordered two copies from TuftsPress! I always thought I was an army of one until I heard you on the radio in Los Angeles a couple days ago, thank you for making me feel not so insane! It got to the point that I could not discuss anything related to charities or non-profits with anyone anymore, hopefully your book will give me the tools to join, and possibly lead, the conversation from now on.
Here is an interesting thread about the Times article, it's from Hacker News. The Hacker News community is full of some of the smartest people around but it's evident we all have our work cut out for us in elevating the publics understanding.
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=409562
Thanks for devoting yourself to writing the book, one is a gift but the other is for me, I wait with baited breath and I will devour it as soon as it arrives!
Regards,
Tobias
Tobias, thanks for ordering the book. You're definitely not insane. The rest of the world is. Let me know what you think after you've had a chance to read...