Looking for a non-profit organization...

[musicelectronix]

I was wondering if there is a non-profit organization with a mission of rescuing teens from streets and world of crimes by giving them a chance to learn an instrument. In other words, give free music lessons to teenagers who otherwise potentially might commit a crime because of the environment they live in, or something like that.

Do you know any foundation like this or at least similiar to this?

[Vandelay]

While I don't know of an organization that does ONLY that, I can confirm that "Boys And Girls Clubs Of America" includes that as one of their programs. Our drummer is a staff member/youth counselor there, and he's involved in teaching kids to play drums and participate in drumline competitions. I've visited his location, and it's a cool place. See their MusicMakers program here:
http://www.bgca.org/programs/arts.asp

The organization's purpose seems to be to help keep kids off the streets and instead doing something positive.

[Jezz8me]

Umm the fall in light foundation lets underprivilaged kids play music i think in aus

[mike_v_s]

I'm not sure if you're asking out of curiosity or because you are looking to donate. If it's the latter, I'd like to offer a word of advice: do as much research as you can on where the money goes before you do.

I've worked in "non profit". That's a very misleading term. Our largest annual expense by a large margin was the payroll. Please reread that sentence. Non-profit professionals normally start out at around $35-40 grand a year. We employed 9. Plus 2 in middle management. Plus one ops manager and one finance guy. Plus a "program" guy. Plus the head guy in our area.

Let's break this down.
foot soldiers: $40 grand x 9 = $360,000
middle management: $55 x 2 = $100,000
program guy: $50 x 1 = $50,000
finance guy: $60 x 1 = $60,000
ops manager: $70 x 1 = $70,000
head: $100,000 x 1 = $100,000

That's $740,000. I didn't add in secretarial staff. I'm comfortable with the conservative figure of $125,000 between the 5 of them. Bringing us to a grand total of.........


$865,000 BEFORE A DIME HITS THE REASON THE ORGANIZATION EXISTS. I was kind enough to not tally in the building rental, office supplies-o-plenty, executive's car, per diem, etc.

I'm not going to tell you my experience was an industry standard but it was with a nationwide organization that virtually everyone is familiar with. I have no intention of discrediting what good they do. Just be aware of what you're money is probably going to pay for. Personally, I give my money anonymously to individuals that I know who are in need. Everyone knows someone on the ropes. A couple hunrded or thousand bucks might be enough to keep them up for that next job interview, or keep them in their apartment one more month or get their kid that one not-so-expensive Christmas gift that the parents themselves simply can't afford.

I understand you're trying to help a certain demographic in a certain way and that my advice might not seem applicable, so I'm sorry if this whole post is a sidetrack.

Mike

[musicelectronix]

Originally Posted by mike_v_s

.....

I'm not going to tell you my experience was an industry standard but it was with a nationwide organization that virtually everyone is familiar with. I have no intention of discrediting what good they do. Just be aware of what you're money is probably going to pay for. Personally, I give my money anonymously to individuals that I know who are in need. Everyone knows someone on the ropes. A couple hunrded or thousand bucks might be enough to keep them up for that next job interview, or keep them in their apartment one more month or get their kid that one not-so-expensive Christmas gift that the parents themselves simply can't afford.

I understand you're trying to help a certain demographic in a certain way and that my advice might not seem applicable, so I'm sorry if this whole post is a sidetrack.

Mike

That post made me.. well.. I don't know what, but sure was complicated. I really appreciate your point of view and reading this was very helpful, not at all a sidetrack.

Yes, I am looking to donate and not just today or tomorrow, in a long run. I have a plan and if it works out, I hope I have a chance to actually make a difference to these kids life.

Anyway, now I am sure of one thing, I will do an extensive research before going into this. Thanks again.

[Pilgrim]

Research is your friend. It's not unusual for "nonprofits" to run 80 to 90% administrative overhead, meaning that only 10-20% of the donated money is used for programs. I avoid these like the plague. GOOD programs run much less, at least if they are supposed to be running programs and not doing other things like lobbying.

For example, this report claims (not proven fact, you can claim anything you want to) that the American Cencer Society runs 64% overhead and only uses 25% of its money for programs: http://www.preventcancer.com/losing/...iest_links.htm. OTOH, since the ACS is a driving force behind legislation and the national research agenda, is that all bad?

There is a lot of information online about the finances of many nonprofits, but it takes some digging and different keywords to find it.