Philanthropy

April is over and so is autism awareness month.  I have been thinking a lot about philanthropy and the many non-profits out there that support autism spectrum disorders. In the past, I have not been all that educated about non-profit organizations or how they operate, but I have learned a great deal in the last year and for the most part it saddens me. So many people assume that every walk, run, picnic, or any other event sponsored by a non-profit is meant to raise money that goes directly to the cause.  This is not the case for so many organizations.

Autism Speaks is the one that bothers me the most. They promote themselves like crazy and have the money to do so since the Wright family is part of the higher ups at NBC. Ever wonder why the TODAY show has so many autism stories? There is your reason, which is not a bad thing at all.  The part that is irritating is that they travel the country each year sponsoring these big walks to raise a ton of money that DOES NOT  go back into our local autism community! They take that money back to New York and continue with rampant celebrity endorsements.  On top of that, they did a massive cut back on grants and research funding.  They claim it is due to the poor economy, but every member of their board has a 3 to 4 figure salary and are not lacking in raises either. This really puts a bad taste in my mouth when I know so many people who work hard to raise money for their local walk and their efforts do absolutely nothing for their children. This is just one example...

I realize that all businesses have overhead and that they have costs to cover for any event, but non-profit organizations are not meant to pad their pocketbooks! The very term non-profit explains that!  I guess I hate to see people so blindly put their name on anything autism related. It is in fact not always for a good cause. There is a lot of business involved that is not altruistic in nature. I wish more people looked into local organizations and tried to raise money that will actually help our local autism community.

I am a staunch advocate for autism and am determined to only support events that help my autism community that I am so proud to be a part of! I am running this weekend to aid a local center in raising funds. My kids don't go there, but their program is amazing and the dollars actually go back into it! That is philanthropy at it's best!