Renaissance Monk > The Sin in Doing Good Deeds – NYTimes.com

The Sin in Doing Good Deeds – NYTimes.com

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Op-Ed Columnist – The Sin in Doing Good Deeds – NYTimes.com: “Here’s a question for the holiday season: If a businessman rakes in a hefty profit while doing good works, is that charity or greed? Do we applaud or hiss?

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- Adam, Eve, the Devil and the Serpent (if your Bible hack)

A new book, ‘Uncharitable,’ seethes with indignation at public expectations that charities be prudent, nonprofit and saintly. The author, Dan Pallotta, argues that those expectations make them less effective, and he has a point.

Mr. Pallotta’s frustration is intertwined with his own history as the inventor of fund-raisers like AIDSRides and Breast Cancer 3-Days — events that, he says, netted $305 million over nine years for unrestricted use by charities. In the aid world, that’s a breathtaking sum.

But Mr. Pallotta’s company wasn’t a charity, but rather a for-profit company that created charitable events. Critics railed at his $394,500 salary — low for a corporate chief executive, but stratospheric in the aid world — and at the millions of dollars spent on advertising and marketing and other expenses.

‘Shame on Pallotta,’ declared one critic at the time, accusing him of ‘greed and unabashed profiteering.’ In the aftermath of a wave of criticism, his company collapsed.

One breast cancer charity that parted ways with Mr. Pallotta began producing its own fund-raising walks, but the net sum raised by those walks for breast cancer research plummeted from $71 million to $11 million, he says.

Mr. Pallotta argues powerfully that the aid world is stunted because groups are discouraged from using such standard business tools as advertising, risk-taking, competitive salaries and profits to lure capital.”

(Via NYTimes.)

My Thoughts

If you read the rest of the article you’d definitely understand.
Perhaps people in the aid world were like, “Umm… This guy’s out to profit off the good will (or suffering) of others.”
So how far does one go to be a “saint”?
Can everyone be like Mother Teresa?
Granted – a $390,000 salary is still more than one might need to survive. Maybe $100,000 was more reasonable. Perhaps $80,000?

You got to admit – in my line of work, doing good just doesn’t seem to pay very well. Some other friendlies that I know, they have good hearts, helping good people and they have a family to raise. Damn, I say – they deserve more. Anyways, that’s an aside.

It’s human psychology to gripe about what you don’t have. So my question is this: just how much should Pallota really have earned?

Was his salary really too high for someone in the humanitarian field? Perhaps demonstrating that he wasn’t pure of heart? Or at least humble?

What would have been a reasonable salary, gentle sirs and ladies? Where do we draw the line between a sustainable livelihood and excess?

And will we ever beat our own psychology?

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  • http://www.danpallotta.com Dan Pallotta

    Thanks for the post. “What’s a reasonable salary [for Mr. Pallotta]?” You see, the point is, that’s really up to Mr. Pallotta. If the salary you think is reasonable is one that I am unwilling to accept, I don’t have to accept the work, or produce the $305 million net dollars we raised. And the real point is, that this happens all of the time. The average Stanford Business School grad, ten years out of B-school earns $400,000 annually in the for-profit sector, selling beer and golf balls and cosmetics, instead of helping the poor. Why? because of society’s outrage when someone makes $400,000 in charity. And guess who pays the price? The poor, who may have been delivered from their plight by the talents these people could bring to bear on the problem.

    So the critical question, my friends, is not, “What’s a reasonable salary?” The critical question is, “What salaries will it take to attract the people who can most quickly eradicate the social problems that cause suffering in this world?” Any question with a different objective forfeits the real moral high ground.

    Curious to me that people will write blogs about this issue, and get incensed about it (not you) but never say a word about the fact that David Beckham makes $50 million a year for kicking a soccer ball around.

    Kind regards,

    Dan Pallotta

  • http://www.sunnylam.ca shadowphenyx

    “…David Beckham makes $50 million a year for kicking a soccer ball around.” + the hockey players and other people who serve only as modern day gladiators

    Quite true Dan. And I’m not incensed because you’re right. We’re not investing in the people who do enough good. While most people are more than happy to invest in diverting entertainment.

    I think it has a lot to do with the disconnections between people in society. We value entertainment by people more than people, just as it seems we value attempts to do selfless good more than the people who make those attempts.

    Gods, Dan, I know what you’re feeling. People in the social economy/non profit field are incensed because they realize that they’re busting their asses and getting nothing for it.

    If anything, every person in the field (hell everyone really) should be reading your book and saying, “Where are we spending our money? Why aren’t we investing in good people – giving them the value of what they’re really worth (in their own eyes)?”

    Much to think about.

  • http://www.danpallotta.com Dan Pallotta

    Thanks for the refreshing comment shadowphenyx. Now to get the rest of the world to realize the same.

    Kind regards,

    Dan Pallotta

  • http://mfulgencio.wordpress.com/ mfulgencio

    you have a point. great job.You can share your good deeds to A Global Tribe. Check it out if you have time, it is a great site.

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