President's Message
Archive September 2008
The Cost of Doing Good is Going Up
By PFP President Jack Foley
The economy and government budgets may be down, but People for Parks and our community partners have continued to move forward during 2008. In my last message, I attributed this progress to social capital – the non-monetary value produced when talented, committed, experienced people work together to achieve tangible, common goals.
PFP partnerships with Los Angeles City and County parks agencies and the L.A. Unified School District have been successful by any measure:
- A working group bringing together the City of L.A., the LAUSD and PFP continues to define a vision of Community-School Parks (CSPs), and we expect to break ground on the first two CSPs in 2009.
- In South L.A., meanwhile, the first planting beds of the Vista Hermosa family garden are already open at Nickerson Gardens, and a Character Building Basketball League at Markham Middle School has just finished its first season of play.
In the past, PFP has compensated for a lack of hard capital by making the most of creativity, knowledge and professional networks, and by squeezing the most from our limited financial resources. Now, though, we've reached a tipping point. To be successful, we need the punch that comes with hard capital.
- PFP didn't pay a penny for about $8,000 in labor for an L.A. Conservation Corps crew to build the Nickerson Garden plots, but the wood, soil, seed and other expenses will cost about $25,000.
- Security, officials, equipment, uniforms and outings for the Character Counts basketball program cost about $25,000.
- Launching our new website cost less that $10,000 – a bargain compared to similar sites that cost $25,000, but a significant expense for a nonprofit.
- And we will need to budget about $150,000 next year for PFP consultants on CSPs, South L.A. programs, communications, administration, and organizing. The actual value of the services in terms of hours worked and productivity is twice that.
This is the time of year when People for Parks raises the lion's share of our operating budget. On Oct. 14, we will hold our 7 th Annual Parks Awards Dinner at the Los Angeles River Center. We raised $90,000 at the 2007 celebration. We are planning even larger community investments in 2009.
I hope you reserve a table at the Parks Awards, of course, but even buying two tickets moves us closer to our goals. And we put on a great party! I also encourage you to sponsor our next community garden, or to target your donation to another specific PFP program. Every bit of help you give is deeply appreciated, and will be used most effectively!
I look forward to hearing what you think. My email is jack.foley1@verizon.net |
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