Reading in the CVN of the requests for non-profits I remembered an article I read in the Fairbanks News-Miner. If my memory serves me correctly the headline was, “North Star Borough rejects non-profit organization’s request.” The sum of the article was that the non-profit organizations had requested $750,000, up from $280,000 the year before. The borough denied the raise in donations.
The North Star Borough has approximately 100,000 people. That comes to $2.80 a person. Last year, the Haines Borough donated $92,000 to the non-profits, which helped bring our budget $150,000 into the red. There are approximately 2,000 people in the Haines Borough. Do the math! That comes to $46 per head.
A non-profit organization means it doesn’t make a profit; what it does mean is that the organization spends every dime it takes in. We are not supposed to be a socialistic nation or borough, but due to all the entitlement programs we are creating, we are getting there as fast as we can. We are not a welfare state yet!
I believe that if a non-profit organization can’t get by on grants or contributions by the private sector, there most likely isn’t enough interest in it to justify its existence. Tighten the old belt, assembly people. Learn to say no!
Gary Hess