The campaign has been launched by three leading US organisations that monitor philanthropic activity – the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator and GuideStar. It seeks to correct the misconception about overhead and asks donors instead to focus on an organisation's transparency, governance, leadership and results.
A letter from the presidents of the three organisations asserts that they are not saying overhead has no role in ensuring charity accountability. However, when donors focus solely or predominantly on this issue, they contribute to 'The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle'.
"We starve charities of the freedom they need to best serve the people and communities they are trying to serve", the letter said. Many nonprofit organisations are applauding the launch of this campaign.
José Luis Castro, Interim Executive Director of The Union, says, "No one wants to see donor support wasted, but the expectation that nonprofits should be able to function without normal operating expenses is patently unrealistic and counterproductive to their ability to fulfill their missions".
Learn more about the Overhead Myth Campaign