overhead

As 2009 approaches, it’s high season for annual appeal campaigns, and with the economy in a recession, these donations become absolutely more critical to keeping organizations going. It’s fairly common to see in these appeal letters or in an annual report, a chart or graph that captures and states the amount to which a donor’s contribution goes to direct services. This is usually done in response to the general desire from donors that every dollar go to providing services and not to operational infrastructure.
The question that agencies are compelled to answer is, “How much of my money goes to supporting services?” But the question itself, and answer to it, tells the donor nothing about how effective the organization is in delivering services or the impact it has in meeting social problems. The question also demonizes overhead, as Dan Pallotta, a writer and blogger about nonprofits and philanthropy says, “when in fact ‘overhead’ is what's required to build the infrastructures we'll need if we ever really want to solve the huge social problems.”
As a former program person and funder, you’ve never had to convince me of the need to fund overhead, and I’ve tried to educate others about the importance of it. So, here’s my appeal to donors as they (or even you) consider and respond to annual campaign letters to support overhead.
Dear Sir/Madam,
As you consider the many requests for your support, we want to make sure you’re aware of the significant contributions overhead plays in our organization.