Passionate Steward - 10th Anniversary Edition

110 THE PASSIONATE STEWARD
Cost-Effectiveness and Stewardship
Secular fundraising methods continue to be driven by costeffectiveness,
with the consequence that profit may eclipse values
in the choices that are made. Regrettably, this is understandable, in
view of the fact that a typical measure of a charity’s “worthiness” of
support is the ratio of administrative costs (including fundraising) to
income—thereby putting pressure upon charities and fundraisers
alike to keep costs low while maximizing return. Worse yet, there is
really no uniform method by which costs can be allocated to either
administration or program, with the result that comparisons
between charities are not even equable. It is a perverse consequence
of the need to show cost-effectiveness that the creativity of a notfor-profit
organization’s accountants has a great deal to do with the
“worthiness” rating it might receive.
This criticism is not to suggest that the economical management
and deployment of resources is not a commendable goal: it is certainly
one aspect of good stewardship. However, “economy” must be
balanced against the kind of avarice that prevents us from lavishly
placing such talents and resources as we possess to good use. (This is
the message inherent in Jesus’ parable of the talents, cf. Mt 25:14–29.)
Moreover, not all the benefits of our philanthropy are monetary. An
over-focus on cost containment fundamentally undermines small
charities whose mission may address a need not yet in the mainstream,
or whose work may quite simply be superior in some way to that of
larger organizations. The value to society of such a charity can easily
outweigh any additional administrative cost.
The principles of Christian stewardship add another layer of
criticism to our preoccupation with cost-effectiveness. Consider the
annual parish bake sale. If one were to add up the cost of ingredients
and figure in an hourly wage for the bakers, the proceeds of the bake
sale would make it a meritless fundraising activity. The same could
be said of the annual rummage sale (in my parish, people bring such
deplorable items that this event is fondly known as the “Junk for