The NARP Blues ...

[Joel N. Weber II]

They're a non-profit, not a company here to serve you. If you don't like how they work, then don't join; it's as easy as that.

Actually, I thought the argument they were making for why I should give them more money than just my membership dues was that they were going to serve me by lobbying Congress for more trains.

Perhaps non-profits are typically given money with the intent that the direct beneficiaries won't be the donors, but I think the donors normally do expect non-profits to act as conduits that will make the benefits of that money available to some beneficiary somehow. I don't remember ever seeing a mass mailing for a non-profit advertising that they would convert my donation to $100 bills, and then have one of their employees burn those $100 dollar bills, promising to carefully screen in their hiring process to make sure that the employee burning the $100 bills did not derive any enjoyment from doing so, nor steal the $100 bills without burning them.

Not renewing my NARP membership is certainly something that I am likely to be doing in the future, but it's unfortunate that I don't know of any organization that I trust to do well the things that NARP claims are its purpose.

 

[PRR 60]

Actually, I thought the argument they were making for why I should give them more money than just my membership dues was that they were going to serve me by lobbying Congress for more trains.

Watch what you say. An organization with the prime purpose of lobbying is not eligible to be a 501( c ) "charity" with dues and donations tax-deductible. NARP says they are a charity, not a lobbying group. Their mission, they say, is "exclusively for charitable and educational purposes". They list "lobbying" expenses as incidental: just under 5% of their revenue ($47,000 in 2006). That means just over 95% is spent on other things.

Now, someone who is cynical (who, me?) might question what those other things are that qualify them as a 501 ( c ) charity. Perhaps they consider their contacts with public officials as "education." All I can say is that if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...

 

[Joel N. Weber II]

The most recent fundraising letter I got includes the statements

Your support is important right now, as NARP intesifies its efforts to make the case for trains with Congress. Our politicians need the facts about train travel - and they need to be made accountable to provide a fair, sufficient level of funding for trains.

And, near the end

Your ongoing support helps us change the transportation priorities in Washington.

There is a list of three things at the bottom of the back which can be sumarized as educating the public (including about the political issues), ``Urging Congress to pass constructive legislation, [...]'' (isn't that lobbying?), and ``Representing the passenger's interest in quality service to Amtrak and other carriers''.

I haven't seen a detailed accounting of how NARP is spending its money (another thing that might make me more comfortable with giving them more of mine), but it does seem to me that an effective organization that does what I think an orgaization along the lines of NARP should be doing would be most effective if part of the organization is set up to recieve non-tax-deductible donations that can be fully used for lobbying. I don't really want to get into a long discussion here on the merits or lack thereof of what the ACLU does, but they have decided to structure things with two organizations, one which does things for which tax-deductible contributions can be used, and the other which does lobby Congress.