Customer Reviews

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

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Mr. Egger disputes the convention wisdom about why people should make charitable gifts and how those gifts should be used by the recipient organizations. As an attorney who represents non-profit boards and individuals contemplating major charitable donations, I have given Robert Egger's book "Begging for Change" to both groups of clients. The universal response has been extremely positive. Mr. Egger not only encourages donors to think through the goals and directions of their largesse but also challenges non-profit executives to use their creativity and a systems approach to improve the delivery and multiplier effect of their charitable services. Too often donors just write a check to feel good and non-profit executives do the "same old, same old" with no effect. Random acts of kindness are good, but reasoned giving coupled with creativity and a systems approach are better.

Eighty-four Americans volunteer with a charity, and $200 billion is contributed every year. "Begging for Change" summarizes Robert Egger looking back on his experiences (first running successful night clubs, then a non-profit kitchen and training program) and offering his critique of the $800 billion non-profit world in general.

A key Egger point is that non-profits need to ask: "Are you perpetuating a cycle of need and dependency?" Today charity is governed by innumerable individuals and their egos, many of which are "business-as-usual" career do-gooders who've never run their own company. Many duplicate each others' services and fight each other for funding. They talk of how many were fed or sheltered, but not about how many got out of dependency.

There now are more than 1.5 million non-profits, and their latest evolution is to "realize" that they have to pay those at the top well to attract good people. Thus, in D.C. there are about 25,000 non-profits, requiring over $1.5 billion just for CEO and executive director salaries! Yet, over 70% have revenues less than $500,000/year, and neither government nor Adam Smith's "Invisible Hand" act to make those that are ineffective go away. Many should.

In addition, there is the needless complexity added by multiple funding sources and their frequent "strings." One non-profit gets its $20 million from 161 sources - think of all the attention required to mind all those masters!

Egger started a training program for cooks, food-handlers, and servers - thus, both offering them a "hand-up" (instead of just a "hand-out") and substantially reducing the need for full-time assistants. Many fail, but many more succeed; even a substantial number of those that fail initially (drug tests, absences) reform, come back, and later complete the program.

Another important Egger point is that companies interested in helping the poor should first focus on paying their own employees well enough so that they can succeed, rather than paying them so little that they cannot succeed and then wondering how to help others that are downtrodden.

Another Egger innovation was to realize that local catering services were always being leaned on by non-profits to provide deeply discounted services. Egger offered to take that business over with his staff in training - and thus relieved them of a burden while providing his trainees with an important opportunity to demonstrate their talents first-hand to society's higher-ups. He also briefly illustrates examples where organizations provide for-profit services while focusing on hiring those with checkered or limited backgrounds.

Egger points out that the aging Baby Boom will soon provide a test of our social services as they move into old age and increasingly require more services.

Finally, Egger suggests that "more" is not always "better." For example, if his organization held a fund-raiser to renovate or acquire new facilities, that would deplete resources available in the community for other needy organizations.

Egger's examples of systems thinking and sacrifice by those at the top (Egger took only a $50,000 salary while heading the D.C. United Fund) should be taken to heart by all non-profits (especially the Red Cross) and the government (with its many overlapping and conflicting programs).

This is an excellent book. The author has great expertise in his field and has a wealth of knowledge to share. I also work in the non-profit world and I learned a great deal from this book. Mr. Egger is honest, straight forward and has "been there" and has fifteen years of experience to support his opinions and solutions to very difficult social problems. Mr. Egger's writing style is clear and very easy to follow. This man knows of what he speaks. An excellent book for anyone working or planning to work in the social justice field. At last, someone who is not afraid to stand up and tell the truth. Don't miss it!

This is an excellent book. The author has great expertise in his field and has a wealth of knowledge to share. I also work in the non-profit world and I learned a great deal from this book. Mr. Egger is honest, straight forward and has "been there" and has fifteen years of experience to support his opinions and solutions to very difficult social problems.

Deceptively simple, Eggers basically offers a challenge for businesses, foundations, individuals, governments, and yes, nonprofits to stop thinking of the nonprofit community as merely the recipients of our charity and start seeing them as real - and accountable - agents for social change.
This is the kind of book I normally avoid like the plague, a book purporting to offer a solution for social issues in 200 pages or less. But Egger's pugnacious prose makes sure that we understand that he knows he doesn't have all the answers, but that sitting back bemoaning the complexity of the issues is letting someone else set the agenda for what our society looks like.
Innovate or die, he challenges the nonprofit community. Don't start throwing millions of dollars into "charity work," he challenges the business community, if you aren't paying your own employees a living wage. Ask what impact your work is having, he challenges volunteers, and focus your efforts on making something happen, not just making yourself feel good.
Egger's book is thoughtful and engaging...and you get the feeling that he finds out you're not doing as you should, he would have no reservations calling you out at high noon, guns drawn.

This is a heartfelt book by a man who has worked hard to do what he thinks is right to help those in the bottom strata of our wealthy society. His goal is to try and offer a framework to modernize the work charities do. He wants to rename charities into community corporations and recognize that there are more efficient ways to use these resources.

I think he is right that we can always do better. That we can always do better does away with the notion that there is a one best way to do things, doesn't it? He is far more enamored of United Way than I am. I think Mr. Egger's proposals take too much power away from those who do the giving. I know he thinks he is a professional and knows better, but organizations such as United Way become very political and I don't want to be co-opted by them to move my money to those whose values and goals I support. He especially bemoans the high percentage of directed funds in the DC chapter of the United Way.

I also think he is wrong in his denigration of the kind of charity work Carnegie and Rockefeller did. He supposes they used improper means to gather their millions out of society making it poorer and then gave it back. In fact, they made society immeasurable richer by getting them better and cheaper steel and light (Rockefeller's kerosene was cheaper and cleaner than whale oil) than they previously had.

But that isn't really the point here and I don't want to distract from the author's goals. He writes in an earnest way. He uses lots of stories. Don't expect scholarly writing or research. He is writing from his own experience and his heart. He has learned a lot from his work. I learned some things from him as well.

If you want to get a current view of non-profits, community corporations, charities, or whatever you want to call them, this is a pretty good place to begin.

Egger's book is an excellent combination of facts, cause-effect logic and practical suggestions on how to make charity much more life-changing for the recipients. As a Hurricane Katrina victim, I know first hand how little meaningful help comes from big not-for-profits and government. The system is crying for reform. Eggers has an approach that works better than many current ones. People in positions of authority need to listen and change behaviors.

Robert Egger has written a compelling and provocative account of the way nonprofit organizations operate and what they need to do to change. His book is both inspirational and highly readable, and it provides a detailed blueprint for those who work everyday in service to their communities. It is also the story of an extrodinary program in the Nation's Capital -- the D.C. Central Kitchen, a model of best practices for leaders in the public and nonprofit world. I will use Egger's engaging book in my classes on Leadership and Nonprofit Management, and recommend it highly to all my colleagues in the field. A great read!

Mr. Egger gives capital insight into the workings of nonprofits, as evidenced by his own work in the founding of DC Central Kitchen and programs across the United States. Not merely a book about "doing good work" but about "doing work that is good." A must-read for those who are, or hope to be, stakeholders in community change, providing much needed and practical lessons in social investment.

Amen to this author! Mr. Egger shares what we've all needed to hear for quite sometime about effective social investment for real community change. As a native San Franciscan, I've witnessed two programs in the 'City by the Bay' that are based on the model program he founded 15 years ago: DC Central Kitchen. This book isn't a basic 'how to' but rather commands the reader to ask 'why?' 'for what purpose?' and 'to what end?' While I'd usually rather open a vein and sit in a warm tub of water than read most books of this ilk, Mr. Egger's book is well-written with insight, charm and a true understanding of the field.