The disconnect between the big-city world of nonprofits and the suffering people it purports to serve

It is difficult to solve any problem, personal or social, without the direct involvement of those affected. While this seems like a logical assumption, many national activist groups and nonprofit organizations fighting against everything from homelessness to injustice in the criminal justice system often fail to engage the direct input of these “down to earth” men and women who are directly affected by such phenomena. problems that threaten the effectiveness and importance of the organization.

A careful examination of the websites of nonprofits and activist bodies, from rescue missions to shelters to legal resource centers, reveals many entities with extensive staff for field operations, public outreach, fundraising, etc. However, few of them have employees who share stories of overcoming drug addiction, homelessness or wrongful prosecution. Instead, agents in the field or administration are college-educated adults who have seen little of inner cities suffering from the ivory towers of academia.

These same websites often list boards that outnumber actual employees. The optics raise questions about how these groups organize and fill internal positions, why so few seek to engage those directly affected by a given social issue in the spotlight, and how they spend the funds they raise or donate in the face of social challenges.

While researching this story, Washington Examiner examined activist organizations, charities, and nonprofits formed to combat homelessness, women’s abuse, and criminal justice reform in many cities across the United States. The reporter repeatedly sought interviews, comments and insights from such entities in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Orleans, Miami, Houston, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Detroit, Denver, Dallas, San Francisco, and Philadelphia.

Three organizations responded, one refused to participate. The other two, the Center for Justice Innovation in New York and La Defensa in Los Angeles, contacted us to say they were open to considering questions, but neither group returned calls to schedule an actual interview.

Compassion and corruption

Maintaining such shadows and avoiding direct contact from those they purport to serve has led to occasional accusations of waste and corruption. Vuk Vukovic is an anti-corruption advocate who began researching this issue during his doctoral studies. Rather than simply condemning and protesting problems in nonprofits or local governments, he uses scientific methods to deduce what drives corruption, how to directly detect it, and how it affects economic and political outcomes.

Vukovic said he rarely encounters cases of activist groups wanting the involvement of people affected by a particular problem they want to solve.

“I would say that in more developed countries, people from affluent and better-educated backgrounds tend to work in these types of organizations, especially in management positions,” Vukovic said. “I’m sure they are taking into account the voices of those affected, but the organization itself won’t really live up to what it preaches in terms of job opportunities.”

Vukovic acknowledged that these college-educated workers are likely better equipped in the work environment because of their education and skills, but such loyal workers are also more likely to conceal corruption or practices that benefit the organization more than homeless people, prisoners or people experiencing violence.

“Very often we see the government and the non-governmental sector being victims of forms of misuse of resources for private purposes,” he added. “Bad examples seriously undermine trust in such organizations.”

He suggested that involving people directly from the streets could direct resources more effectively and protect against internal corruption.

If the situation is worse than ever…

Perhaps there is no greater crucible for nonprofits and their effectiveness in tackling sociopolitical issues than the megapolis of Los Angeles. According to the Los Angeles Office of Homeless Services, there were more than 75,000 homeless people in the city in 2024. Meanwhile, the city authorities continue to fight brutal crime and theft.

Nonprofit organizations have sprung up across the city to advocate for the homeless and fight the racial inequities seen in crime statistics. However, most of these groups follow the same elitist tendencies, working with the academic crowd over street survivors and filling their ranks with numerous boards of directors.

Sensing the potential for corruption, freelance investigative reporter Daniel Guss looks inside Los Angeles’ activist nonprofit community. Guss, author of the award-winning book Guss ReportTwo clearly distinguished categories of local organizations were found.

“They can be almost entirely divided into two categories,” he said. “They are either rich, outrageously paid and politically connected, or they are small, hard-working and usually have no overhead.”

When he encountered signs of misappropriation of funds, incestuous staff, or political corruption, they almost always occurred with larger and wealthier charities.

“I noticed isolation in larger, politically connected organizations, where family members of local politicians often find comfortable, interesting jobs,” he explained.

Guss went out of his way to cite a prime example of the corruption that exists in the nonprofit world in Los Angeles.

“A glaring example is Best Friends Animal Adoption Center in Los Angeles,” he explained. “According to his tax returns, he earns over $50 million a year. The group hired the daughter of the then-CEO of Los Angeles Animal Services before it could enjoy free rent, maintenance, protection and perks that smaller animal charities cannot afford.”

Best Friends was among the organizations contacted that did not respond to requests for comment.

Suggesting that voices on the street may not want to toe the company’s line, Guss admitted that he rarely sees affected people inducted into activist ranks. He chalks it up to a set of bad habits and political and NGO policies that make them ineffective.

“I have been following the Los Angeles community and Los Angeles politics for a very long time, and my default position is that politicians and those in the political arena often perpetuate issues so that they remain relevant and necessary,” he added. “At this nonprofit, I have heard exceptional things about the Midnight Mission in Los Angeles and its openness to helping and engaging those in need. But beyond that, at the end of the day, if things are worse than ever, are we really succeeding?”

Organizations contacted that did not respond to a request for comment included the Los Angeles Midnight Mission.

Crusader against big city nonprofits

Across town, longtime radio host John Kobylt wages a daily war against all the activists, nonprofits, homeless and criminals from his studio at KFI. He argues that the last thing any nonprofit activist group wants is the direct involvement of anyone who is able to realize and communicate how little good they are doing.

“When I look at nonprofits, I see frauds, frauds and frauds,” Kobylt said before the three-hour weekday show aired. “If you drive a wheelbarrow full of money into the middle of the street, what will happen? Hundreds of people will come to get a piece of it. When the government has hundreds of millions of dollars for homeless relief or prison rehabilitation programs, the cockroaches come out and catch them.”

At the most basic level, Kobylt said he believes the entire current concept of activist nonprofits in Los Angeles is not working, as evidenced by the billions of dollars spent to combat homelessness in a city where tens of thousands of people still live. street.

“Without a doubt, these hundreds of programs and nonprofits are failed scams,” he added. “There is no measure of their success. This is the Wild West and the system is corrupt down to the most humble local level.”

Kobylt admitted that it’s difficult for someone who really wants to help and solve problems to gain legal access to the scene when so many workers and executives have the opportunity to “start one of these nonprofits and pay themselves, their friends, their family six-figure salaries.”

He said he feels sorry for those who have overcome homelessness or incarceration and want to help others struggling with similar issues, but he also feels sorry for young, idealistic people who come into the nonprofit world and really want to help. They face a system more focused on the profits of their bosses than on changing lives on the streets.

“I see these activist kids riding around in golf carts and looking for homeless people lying on the beach,” Kobylt said. “They come and ask if he is okay, if he is hungry. They give him a small plastic bag with a sandwich and offer to help him. That’s the maximum reach they can afford, and a nonprofit can claim hundreds of thousands in a fraud report.”

Going beyond the usual solutions

According to Vukovic, the best way to end corruption among nonprofit organizations is to open up the ranks of their employees while ensuring full budget transparency.

“‘Full’ means every expense and every receipt publicly available online on an easy-to-search website,” he said. “For both government groups and non-governmental organizations, this is a very important first step towards reducing the misuse of resources and ensuring accountability. Then you move on to other things like participatory budgeting, which involves more people in the decision-making process. Just these two little things would be very useful.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Kobylt said he believes there are no real solutions like Vukovic’s because real people who might have good, practical ideas to combat these problems can’t gain access in the face of a ruthless power structure standing in the way.

“I am confident that local city councilors and legislators will make every effort to allow this system to continue,” he said. “Money circulates underground. Many of the people running these nonprofits are well-connected politically and the system works – for them.”

John Scott Lewinski, MFA, is a writer based in Milwaukee.