Comments on: Book Donation Sites Are Selling the Best Books http://dearauthor.com/features/industry-news/book-donation-sites-are-selling-the-best-books/ Romance, Historical, Contemporary, Paranormal, Young Adult, Book reviews, industry news, and commentary from a reader's point of view Sun, 27 May 2012 00:22:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Robin http://dearauthor.com/features/industry-news/book-donation-sites-are-selling-the-best-books/#comment-27378 Robin Mon, 30 Apr 2007 18:14:56 +0000 http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2007/04/26/book-donation-sites-are-selling-the-best-books/#comment-27378 Ah, I see what you're saying JMC; my own personal experience working with a non-profit is that people don't really care about the money until it's almost gone. It's very strange that a board member would be in the dark, though, which suggests to me that there's very little reporting of any kind, which, yeah, can be a big problem, not because anything nefarious is going on, but because people are left wondering, which actually can be worse. Ah, I see what you’re saying JMC; my own personal experience working with a non-profit is that people don’t really care about the money until it’s almost gone. It’s very strange that a board member would be in the dark, though, which suggests to me that there’s very little reporting of any kind, which, yeah, can be a big problem, not because anything nefarious is going on, but because people are left wondering, which actually can be worse.

]]> By: jmc http://dearauthor.com/features/industry-news/book-donation-sites-are-selling-the-best-books/#comment-27362 jmc Mon, 30 Apr 2007 11:35:10 +0000 http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2007/04/26/book-donation-sites-are-selling-the-best-books/#comment-27362 Mmm, declared income and assets on tax returns aren't the transparency I was thinking of, primarily because of accessibility. While members of the board of directors/trustees have access to that information easily, it isn't feasible to distribute copies of the tax returns to donors who worry or wonder about what is done with the books they've donated. I was thinking more of an annual report of sorts, reduced to bullet points of contributed income, earned income and expenses. For example, I get monthly financial statements from the NP I work with -- I can see line by line where the money is coming from and where it is going. We are audited annually as part of our network obligation, and we publish an annual report that is available to all donors. Generally, though, they aren't interested in reading it. What they are interested in is the pamphlet and e-newsletter we circulate with the budget consolidated into 5 or 6 lines showing what our overhead was, how much money was contributed vs. earned, etc. The only thing that really stuck out to me was that the friend and board member interviewed had no idea what was going on. The board doesn't need to micromanage, but if this is a significant source of income for the NP, the board should've known. Lax board oversight can lead to bad things, despite the good intentions of a visionary leader. Mmm, declared income and assets on tax returns aren’t the transparency I was thinking of, primarily because of accessibility. While members of the board of directors/trustees have access to that information easily, it isn’t feasible to distribute copies of the tax returns to donors who worry or wonder about what is done with the books they’ve donated. I was thinking more of an annual report of sorts, reduced to bullet points of contributed income, earned income and expenses. For example, I get monthly financial statements from the NP I work with — I can see line by line where the money is coming from and where it is going. We are audited annually as part of our network obligation, and we publish an annual report that is available to all donors. Generally, though, they aren’t interested in reading it. What they are interested in is the pamphlet and e-newsletter we circulate with the budget consolidated into 5 or 6 lines showing what our overhead was, how much money was contributed vs. earned, etc.

The only thing that really stuck out to me was that the friend and board member interviewed had no idea what was going on. The board doesn’t need to micromanage, but if this is a significant source of income for the NP, the board should’ve known. Lax board oversight can lead to bad things, despite the good intentions of a visionary leader.

]]> By: Robin http://dearauthor.com/features/industry-news/book-donation-sites-are-selling-the-best-books/#comment-27324 Robin Sun, 29 Apr 2007 16:52:58 +0000 http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2007/04/26/book-donation-sites-are-selling-the-best-books/#comment-27324 Well, if Book Thing has assets or income over a certain level, they have to declare it to Uncle Sam to keep their 501(c)(3) status, so "transparency" in this case would be more to secure continued donations and public support, right? That makes complete sense to me, even if I wouldn't automatically assume anything wrong with the sale of expensive books to generate even more income for the non-profit. It is EXTREMELY difficult to keep those organizations going without some kind of income base, and I'm thinking it's far easier for many people to donate books than actual cash. Well, if Book Thing has assets or income over a certain level, they have to declare it to Uncle Sam to keep their 501(c)(3) status, so “transparency” in this case would be more to secure continued donations and public support, right? That makes complete sense to me, even if I wouldn’t automatically assume anything wrong with the sale of expensive books to generate even more income for the non-profit. It is EXTREMELY difficult to keep those organizations going without some kind of income base, and I’m thinking it’s far easier for many people to donate books than actual cash.

]]> By: jmc http://dearauthor.com/features/industry-news/book-donation-sites-are-selling-the-best-books/#comment-27320 jmc Sun, 29 Apr 2007 16:17:43 +0000 http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2007/04/26/book-donation-sites-are-selling-the-best-books/#comment-27320 This was a topic of conversation at dinner the other night. The one at the table who is a Book Thing regular was a bit dismissive of the article as being prompted by sour grapes of other booksellers and/or book donors who realized after the fact what they had donated had value. If the sale of rare donated books makes it possible for the organization to flourish, more power to Wattenberg. I don't have a problem with this. However, I think transparency is important in non-profits, so being more open would be good. This was a topic of conversation at dinner the other night. The one at the table who is a Book Thing regular was a bit dismissive of the article as being prompted by sour grapes of other booksellers and/or book donors who realized after the fact what they had donated had value.

If the sale of rare donated books makes it possible for the organization to flourish, more power to Wattenberg. I don’t have a problem with this. However, I think transparency is important in non-profits, so being more open would be good.

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