Begging for Change: The Dollars and Sense of Making Nonprofits Responsive, Efficient, and Rewarding for All

by Robert Egger

You are a good person. You are one of the 84 million Americans who volunteer with a charity. You are part of a national donor pool that contributes nearly $200 billion to good causes every year. But you Why don't your efforts seem to make a difference? Fifteen years ago, Robert Egger asked himself this same question as he reluctantly climbed aboard a food service truck for a night of volunteering to help serve meals to the homeless. He wondered why there were still people waiting in line for soup in this day and age. Where were the drug counselors, the job trainers, and the support team to help these men and women get off the streets? Why were volunteers buying supplies from grocery stores when restaurants were throwing away unused fresh food every night? Why had politicians, citizens, and local businesses allowed charity to become an end in itself? Why wasn't there an efficient way to solve the problem? Robert knew there had to be a better way. In 1989, he started the D.C. Central Kitchen by collecting unused food from local restaurants, caterers, and hotels and bringing it back to a central location where hot, nutritious meals were prepared and distributed to agencies around the city. Since then, the D.C. Central Kitchen has been named one of President Bush Sr.'s Thousand Points of Light and has become one of the most respected and emulated nonprofit agencies in the world, producing and distributing more than 4,000 meals a day. Its highly successful 12-week job-training program equips former homeless transients and drug addicts with culinary and life skills to gain employment in the restaurant business. In Begging for Change, Robert Egger looks back on his experience and exposes the startling lack of logic, waste, and ineffectiveness he has encountered during his years in the nonprofit sector, and calls for reform of this $800 billion industry from the inside out. In his entertaining and inimitable way, he weaves stories from his days in music, when he encountered legends such as Sarah Vaughan, Mel Torme, and Iggy Pop, together with stories from his experiences in the hunger movement -- and recently as volunteer interim director to help clean up the beleaguered United Way National Capital Area. He asks for nonprofits to be more innovative and results-driven, for corporate and nonprofit leaders to be more focused and responsible, and for citizens who contribute their time and money to be smarter and more demanding of nonprofits and what they provide in return. Robert's appeal to common sense will resonate with readers who are tired of hearing the same nonprofit fund-raising appeals and pity-based messages. Instead of asking the "who" and "what" of giving, he leads the way in asking the "how" and "why" in order to move beyond our 19th-century concept of charity, and usher in a 21st-century model of change and reform for nonprofits. Enlightening and provocative, engaging and moving, this book is essential reading for nonprofit managers, corporate leaders, and, most of all, any citizen who has ever cared enough to give of themselves to a worthy cause.

Genres: Nonfiction, Business, Unfinished, Social Change

240 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2004

Reviews

[Nikita T. Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read, especially for someone new to the sector.

Saved quotes:

"The leaders of the organization were shielded from criticism because, like other nonprofit organizations, they could behind a noble mission. It's as if questioning the soundness of their planning is in effect questioning their integrity, their purpose, and the need of their constituents." (50)

"Experts in social policy call this the "law of unintended consequences." I call it "good intentions gone bad." Just because you're doing "good" doesn't excuse you from doing things smart, or doing things good." (53)

"We run into serious problems when people start to confuse random acts of kindness with a social strategy. Simply put, our neighborhoods, our communities, even our nonprofit infrastructures, have grown too complex to rely on starfish throwers. What you end up with is too much or not enough." (70)

"No matter what role you play in the sector, whether you're a donor, a volunteer, an executive director, or a fundraiser, you can't contribute to any real impact in helping others with random acts. Be a starfish thrower in you spare time, but don't turn your nonprofit or business into one. You have to be smart and organized to win this war. You have to have long-term planning, long-term action, and the ability ot mobilize the idea of starfish throwers into machines of social change." (80)

"As students of charity, whether we're young or old, we need to understand that the best thing we can do to help a child in need is not to give that child another meal or tutor, but to pay that child's parents a living wage. We need to stop thinking we have to drive to the "other side of town" to help "inner city kids," or go out at night serving meals on the street. That's addressing the symptom, not the disease of poverty. We need to look at the people right next to us to see how they need our help." (107)

Regarding Gen Y: "They are the new American fighters, a ragtag army of true believers that we've been arming for the last decade and they itch for a fight. They are poised for greatness, if some of us would just get out of the way and some of us just show them the way." (152)

"Someone once said that a good leader doesn't create more followers. Good leaders create more leaders. I say amen to that." (153)

"I'd like to urge any CEO or director of a company who wants to help a person in need to start with your own people - your employees. Make sure they're taken care of and then work your way out in concentric circles, your neighborhood, your community, your city and state. Don't donate your time to the inner city if your own employees aren't making a living wage. Spend more time figuring out how to pay them better and provide more benefits, rather than constructing a golden parachute for your fellow executives. As the saying goes, if we all do with a little less, we all get a little more." (165)

[Diana Nagy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Are you are a non-profit organization? Do you have a great interest in volunteering for your community or donating cash or other items to charities dear to your heart? Regardless of your interest in non-profit organizations, I think you will find this book about The Kitchen, a non-profit organization, very beneficial. Not only does the author talk about his own charity but he talks about the salary of other non-profits and what they are or should be making. This book details all the things that are currently wrong with charities and what we as individuals can do alone and with a team to change that. This book was beneficial for me as a person who aspires to one day open a non-profit business without the government's assistance as well as a person who enjoys donating to others in need. I found a lot of really great information contained in this book. One of the things the author recommends is for you to research a non-profit prior to donating to see where your money is actually being used and if it is truly being used for what you want it to be used for. He also recommends that rather than donating to a bunch of different non-profits, you should select just one. While some of you may agree with that suggestion, I personally do not. I feel better knowing that my money is going to different organizations of different needs at different times. Even if it is only a little bit at a time. That way I feel like I am helping others in situations that are important to me, that I would like to see changed for the better.

[Dom De Bellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me insight into the world of nonprofit organizations to a degree I never imagined. Here I was, pondering the possibility of forming one of my own, and I'm reading this book, which scared me into a fetal position after a few pages! But then I reached Page 19 and everything changed for me. This was the turning point, the fulcrum for me. The first 18 pages was a retrospective of how NPOs operated in the U.S. and frankly, that depressed me into inaction and a decision to not go the NPO route with my dream organization. I've resumed reading from this point today and will complete the book soon, and, I imagine, write a more comprehensive review soon after.

[Jaya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Robert Egger is a nonprofit entrepreneur, who thinks big and isn’t afraid to try out new ideas. He founded DC’s Central Kitchen, a hunger-fighting initiative that not only feeds the homeless with donated food, but provides job training and life coaching to its clients, who graduate into kitchens all over the area and gain a steady paycheck.

His qualifications are stellar, and his advice for nonprofits isn’t bad. Run your org like, well, a business. Serve your cause first and foremost – don’t be afraid to innovate. Eggers, a former nightclub manager, believes nonprofits should be held to the same exacting (if ruthless) standards that small businesses are held to. The free market exerts quality controls on private enterprise that are sorely lacking in the nonprofit world, and nonprofits (and the people they are trying to help) suffer as a result. As a result, there are too many nonprofits out there, and many should merge in order to more effectively serve their clientele – or should be eliminated entirely. Eggers is rightly harsh on entrenched nonprofit leadership; managers who sit on the same boards for decades, while eschewing change and drawing outsized salaries.

Unfortunately, the book is slim on solutions.

The problems in the nonprofit world are many, as Eggers points out. The changes will have to be sweeping; they must affect every level of organization in the nonprofit sector as well as the for-profit sector. Government policy has to change. Americans’ attitude towards charitable giving must change. Corporations have to incorporate a new sense of purpose into their mission statements. Yet Eggers’ answer to this widespread dysfunction seems to have been to… write a book. There are no calls for transforming organizations, no calls for new governmental policy to deal with the problems. Instead, Eggers has written a book that markets itself very much to individual nonprofit managers. The book is sprinkled with tips for nonprofit directors to increase the efficiency of their organization (and in fact, these are collected in the back), recommendations for for-profit institutions to increase their corporate social responsiblity, and this slap-dash approach seems, for Eggers, to be good enough.

One of the most appealing aspects of Eggers’ book is his righteous disdain for the “starfish” story. You’ve heard the starfish story, if you’ve ever spent any time in the nonprofit or philanthropic world. The man finds a young boy throwing washed-up starfish, one or two at a time, back into the ocean, and asks him what he’s doing. “Don’t you know you can’t possibly save all the thousands and thousands of starfish who have washed up on the beach? what difference can you possibly make?” The boy throws another starfish in the ocean and says, “I’ve made a difference to that one!”

Nonprofits, Eggers argues, should not be in the business of being starfish throwers. Nonprofits must aim higher than saving some, not all. Nonprofits must work for systemic change, rather than hand out bandaids. Eggers lays out a grandiose agenda for everyone involved in social work, from government, to the public, to corporations. You must not be content with throwing starfish. “Throw starfish in your spare time,” says Eggers. In nonprofit work, you must aim big.

Why, then, is Eggers throwing starfish with this book? Why is he asking individual nonprofits to make changes, instead of demanding change at a higher level, say, change at foundations that make grants and organizations like the United Way that channel funds to smaller nonprofits? Why does he demurely say he doesn’t want bigger government, when what he’s asking for – more regulation, less exploitation of workers, less of the social system that creates the need for organizations like his in the first place – relies on a government that is active, involved, and interventionist in the economy? Why does he ask CEOs to pay their workers a higher wage, instead of demanding regulation that would make it so that no worker ever has to go to a food bank for a meal again?

I’m disappointed, but not surprised, by Eggers’ timidity. Nowhere in the book does Eggers discuss the fact that the free market approach to nonprofit management he admires so much is the same logic that is ultimately responsible for creating the societal inequalities he wants so badly to combat. Hunger is created when you pay your menial workers minimum wage; you pay your workers minimum wage because the free market forces you to compete. The solution, Eggers seems to suggest, is to simply choose to pay your workers more. Nowhere does Eggers suggest the problem might lie with the national race to the bottom in wages that such unfettered capitalism fosters. On the one hand, Eggers praises the free market, on the other, he insists that corporations “do the right thing” out of the goodness of their hearts.

The book would have been stronger if there was a firmer examination of what our free market ethos has done to our society.

Eggers would probably accuse me of fatalism. He strongly denounces the “blame society” crowd – people (like me) who believe that the system is ultimately stacked against the clients of DC’s Central Kitchen. After someone graduates from the kitchen and finds a job in a restaurant, what then? What is waiting for someone who can serve as a line cook? A low-wage job in a low-wage industry, lacking in benefits, lacking in worker protection, often lacking in the basic stability of steady hours. To Eggers, this sort of analysis is pointless. It denies the agency of the individuals who use Central Kitchen’s services to move up through life. It is insulting to them, as it takes away from their accomplishments. But Eggers does not explain why this is so. We are to think systemically – remember, Eggers’ edict about the starfish – without thinking too broadly about social problems, so as not to become hopelessly pessimistic.

But in failing to critique free market capitalism, Eggers throws starfish. He praises nonprofits that work within the lines of what is acceptable in free market capitalism, nonprofits that tweak the system without altering it too greatly, and deems this work good enough. The changes that are needed to truly end hunger and poverty and the other great ills of modern society are hinted at, but not truly engaged with. If Eggers had done this, Begging for Change would have been a truly great book.

[Ash]

I read this for a social entrepreneurship class. It took a critical view on the non-profit space, not to put it down, but to discuss where non-profits are currently failing and how to make change so they are more effective. I learned a lot about what it is like to work in an industry like this. Many people from the outside see "non-profit" and think "oh goody! they're making change" but that's not necessarily true. A lot of non-profits are fighting against each other when they should be working together, and a lot are ineffective in their work by only providing band-aid solutions. They are trying to fix the symptom, not the actual cause. We have to look beyond the "who" and "what" of giving and demand to know the "how" and "why". Egger provides some great concepts in this book to help create change and to make non-profits (or other organizations) more responsive, efficient, and rewarding for all those involved.

[Rose Merritt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. As a nonprofit professional, I didn’t find any information in this book particularly helpful. Eggers is undisguised in taking all the credit for his organization’s success and (far, FAR) too willing to dole out cliched axioms about nonprofit success with all the tough-love chiding of a high school gym teacher. Cringefest.

[Jaime Brunnabend · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book that definitely inspires you and also makes you think about the way you can impact others as well as organizations with the most lasting impact. It’s told from a different perspective of a business owner turned nonprofit organization lead and this aspect keeps you interested in his viewpoint

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nonprofits should be run like businesses. Never heard that one before. It's an interesting analysis, but there's no clear way forward. The problem is complicated so the author.... talks more about the problem. OK.

[Maisie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always good to shake things up. While I don’t like everything Egger says, I often agree with the point he is making (or my take on it, for what that’s worth). Very readable, very accessible, let’s talk about long term solutions to hunger!

[Kaitlynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

very important book that gives a fresh perspective on the nonprofit world - i will definitely be using this for ideas/advice. knocked off a star because the writing style was not to my taste - but to each their own.

[Bernie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Robert Egger is an inspiration for us all

[Ami Neiberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I heard Robert Eggers speak a couple of years ago at a nonprofit event and loved his dynamic perspective on the nonprofit sector and call to re-think how we do business. Eggers founded D.C. Central Kitchen and rebuilt the national capital chapter of the United Way following a major scandal.

In Begging for Change: The Dollars and Sense of Making Nonprofits Responsive, Efficient, and Rewarding for All, Eggers asks nonprofit workers to consider how we can collaborate to tackle the problems facing our society, while junking outdated and hurtful operating models. Many of the assumptions we have about nonprofit work, keep our sector trapped in inefficiency, parochialism and turf wars.

Eggers argues that nonprofit organizations are making serious mistakes in how they approach their business models and that the do good sector is long overdue for a major overhaul. Too many nonprofits overpay their top executives, duplicate each other’s services, compete again.st each other for a shrinking resource pie, fail to work together to tackle broad problems, and don’t properly evaluate their programs and services.

Rather, Eggers notes the danger of nonprofits relying on old funding models, replicating each other’s services, and using outdated stereotypes for their communications and marketing. He worries that too many organizations ask donors to believe they are doing good, while not explaining how they are impacting key social problems.

He asks nonprofit workers to embrace change and innovate the field through partnership and restructuring operations. His call for change includes nonprofit communications, where Eggers thinks nonprofits should focus more on explaining how they are addressing key social issues and less time on flinging around statistics.

He takes issue with a public service campaign by the Ad Council with America’s Second Harvest, which used images of a young girl to help Americans consider how many people in this country must choose between paying for food and paying for heat or electricity or gas for a car to get to work. Eggers argues that while the campaign raises the issue, it stops there. He feels that we can’t change someone’s mind by only quoting a number or dropping a moral platitude. Rather, we should offer a solution for the problem too, because the public already knows that there is a problem.

Furthermore, Eggers points out that children remain at the top of the caste pinnacle of needy people publicized by nonprofits when raising money, we often ignore what he calls the “big uglies” – the drug addicts, adult homeless people, or prisoners. Many of the people who are homeless or battling addictions today are the children of prior decades that were never saved.

Nonprofit communicators, program leaders, and development staff will find plenty to ponder in the book and its call for change. Donors, nonprofit board members and volunteers will also find that the book inspires them to ask harder questions about what their money and time are supporting.

When checking out Robert Eggers’ blog, I found this thoughtful quote: “Too often, charity is based on the redemption of the giver, not the liberation of the receiver.” It begs a few questions – what end result is your nonprofit seeking? To make donors feel good? Or to solve social problems? And do the two have to be mutually exclusive?

I originally published this on my blog at: http://steppingstonellc.com/2013/11/2...

[Marc Buckley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert is what a disruptor looks like. His work isn’t about filling people up and sending them on their way, it is about first making sure that food is nutritious and more than this, it is about empowering individuals and communities to achieve personal and collective advancement. This means people coming together over food and talking about how decision making can better work for them.
Robert is such a wonderful person that is making a great impact on so many people. I was very grateful to have Robert on my podcast Inside Ideas. If you want to listen to Roberts wisdom you can find episode 83 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O655z...

Or check out the links below:
https://www.innovatorsmag.com/food-po...
https://www.innovatorsmag.com/inside-...
https://medium.com/inside-ideas/rober...

[Jeff Sloan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Egger takes a good hard look at non-profits serving the poor in Washington DC. He adds his background in the hospitality business to the analysis and this makes the book excellent reading. For those of us who have a desire to serve the poor, as well as bring others along on that journey, this book can serve as a reflecting point as to how we've done this work for some time. Egger asks "Who are we serving" in a few different ways, this is a question that needs to be asked and answered regularly as we move through our various outreaches to the poor. Too often the answer is strikingly, not the poor.

[Desiree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Egger is like the Gordan Ramsay of the non-profit world (a little bit ironic, since he is director of the DC Central Kitchen). He exposes practices that are inefficient & worthless in the non-profit sector, and brings in simple yet fresh ideas. I am going to DCCK tomorrow at 7:45 in the morning to learn more about all their happenings, drive around in their refrigerated truck and go vote (not really related to the first two). It is difficult at this point to think of three better reasons to get out of bed at this insane hour :-)

[Joanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with much of what Egger has to say, particularly that non-profits need to start banding together to become a real force of change. By working together rather than competing for scarce resources and acclaim, non-profits can have a greater direct impact and become a political force that can change policy to help meet our missions. Egger's is a great story and his DC Kitchen does amazing work. But, I also found the book to be a little hokey and I disagree with some of what he has to say.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This dude is a personal role model. Particularly enjoyed the brief history of the nonprofit sector -- gave a lot of insight into how and why the field has evolved in the way that it has and sets the stage well for 'something different.' I also like how Eggers doesn't assume that purely market-based change is the solution to complex, structural problems like hunger.

[Brenda Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I am working on starting a non-profit organization, this book was educational and helpful in my pursuits. I had met the author at the Conference of World Affairs and was inspired to learn more about his work as he is clearly a person who has taken action on his passion to help the homeless population.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed his perspective on how to influence social change and to safeguard against the fact that it sometimes becomes more for the volunteer than the recipient. I also agree with his point that the biggest changes can now be made through corporations instead of proliferating nonprofits.

[Debra]

Everyone who works for a nonprofit should read this book. It is easy to read and will give you new insight on the homeless, greed and just applying yourself to a greater cause. Even if you don't work in a nonprofit, it is a good read in general.

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit all over the place - but I think that's Egger's style. I enjoyed this quick read. Some good ideas for how to shake up the NP sector. Recommended for those who are new to non-profits or seeking volunteer opportunities in the new year.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introduction to the nonprofit marketspace. Introduces reader to the problem of similarly-oriented organizations competing for limited foundation funds and the ability of the organizations to serve the populations they target.

[N.S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

If he ran for office, I'd vote for him.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Egger had some good points, but at times was a bit wordy. I definitely admire what he has done.

[Mike & Mandy Laning · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Book about non-profits and helping the poor. Can't wait to read it again.

[Mary]

recommended by my son...

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy and effective (and affecting) read.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read with a lot of meaningful insight into the nonprofit sector and how it should/could operate more effectively.

[Suzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must-read for those in the nonprofit sector. Or for those NOT in the nonprofit sector to get a clue. ;-) Very inspiring.

[Jamie Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for all nonprofit managers.