Financial morals

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This was a quick question that I came across while looking into them. I emailed them.
 
I think this is really a factor of you not understanding how nonprofits work. A nonprofit does not mean that a company does not have to make money in excess of expenses. Nonprofit is a tax designation by the IRS. It means they do not pay income taxes on revenue in excess of expenses. It also means that revenue that exceeds expenses does not go to a owner or shareholder. It is put back into the nonprofit as reserves, or it is used to fund programs, services, and overhead expenses.

A well run nonprofit does not “break even”. A well run nonprofit generates revenue in excess of expenses so that it can plan for and fund future endeavors. A well run nonprofit maintains reserves. A well run nonprofit is able to continue to grow and provide services year-over-year.

You were also incorrectly categorizing the money paid for missions as donations. Those are fees for services.
 
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First if all, for an organization that turns over $60M a year, I do not think $500K is a sizeable profit.
There us nothing wrong with this at all. I have managed non-profit financials, you are always looking for some ventures that can be a little better than self funding to help offset other ventures that are not.
And if I was managing mission trips, I would want y
To build a little cushion into the budget because those types of things can easily go from an expected breakeven to a shortfall with little notice.
 
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So far, I cant find anything on their website that shows and explains what they do/give on their missions.
 
Alright- that is the type of answer I was looking for. You answered the question as opposed to just accusing me of having a beef with the organization or being unfounded. Thank you- I will keep that in mind while I do more research. God bless!
 
Alright- thank you for the answer. I wasn’t thinking of the missions money as donations ( I meant charity as in people giving their time), and I hadn’t looked at it as a service/fee type transaction. I initially was more looking at it as like charging people to do something good, which is why it didn’t sit right. Thank you for sharing your wisdom and God bless!
 
Keep in mind, even legally, a non-profit does not mean an organization will not make a profit, it means that it’s purpose is not to make a profit. But most nonprofits try to stay in the black as much as possible. Running a non-profit which runs a deficit for 3 or 4 years straight is not fun (don’t ask me how I know this).
 
This is turning into a business lesson for me😅 thanks for the answer. God Bless!
 
There’s nothing wrong with asking questions. That’s how we learn.

The student is paying for a trip, and there are many costs involved. Plus there are overhead factors, someone to answer the phone when people call. Someone to plan all the trips. Someone to vet all of the locations, do the paperwork with the governments, and many other things.

And there likely needs to be a reserve fund so that they can make deposits on housing and airfare, etc, in locations well before students have put in their money. So that $500,000 could be working capital for the next year’s programs.
 
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I’m wondering what kind of mission trips these are, and are the kids paying to go on a mission trip?
 
Okay, for instance kids are paying $3600 to go on a mission trip to Tanzania, for about 3 weeks. I can’t help but wonder if it would help the local people better to just donate some of that $3600? For instance, when these young Americans go and build something, wouldn’t it be better if local people could build and get paid for their labor?

focusoncampus.org

Trip Types - FOCUS

focusoncampus.org focusoncampus.org
 
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I think there is always the danger on these youth mission trips that the poor who are visited are not helped as much as they would be through other means and are almost made to serve as just a means to show rich Americans what poverty is like in parts of the world.
 
I’m not a big fan of missions as I’m secular and often these missions are something that the people served could do themselves if trained and funded instead of doing it all for them. Evangelicals have been accused of using missions to basically have a feel good vacation and spread the word…often to areas that are predominantly Christian to begin with (often Catholic).

I do approve of some types of missions. Those that give training and supplies for self help and further opportunities and medical missions that bring in doctors, dentists and opthomologists to underserved areas…often at great cost to their organization purely for the benefit of the locals. Those types really do depend on donations and charities.
 
They are on my campus and I looked into going on a mission trip with them last spring break. It’s $1500 to go to Mexico City for one week, but the first day is spent basically just sightseeing, and the BCM on campus offers a week long trip to Mexico City for $750. I looked into their missions before looking into getting involved in the organization.
 
I’d not use the word “kids”. These are young adults, college students.

focusoncampus.org

FOCUS Missions

FOCUS Missions partners with hosts around the world who are serving the needs of their communities! Find your mission and see what the Lord can do with your yes!
focusoncampus.org focusoncampus.org
 
I’ve had to think and rethink this issue a LOT. Volun-tour-ism can do more damage than good. This is a great book on the topic. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11869727-toxic-charity

I help out with one organization that does mission trips just over the Mexican border. I only feel OK with it because they have a strong working relationships with the community of religious sisters there, and they listen to what the needs are and respond accordingly. The same team of licensed journeyman construction workers accompanies the students, so the work is well-overseen. The emphasis is not on helping but on serving. If you give it some thought, there’s a tremendous difference.

Most of the time, however, idealistic students would do much more good for an area by going as a tourist and merely to learn about poverty and corruption. St. Angela of Merici said that we honestly have a greater need to serve the poor than they have of our service. It’s imperative that we don’t turn that need into personal selfishness.
 
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I’m not even sure if they pay for it. It seems like they get the money through fundraising ?

Fundraising: Each FOCUS Missions Participant has the opportunity to fundraise the entire cost of his or her mission trip. After you have been accepted on a mission trip, you will be contacted by your personal fundraising coach.
 
True enough. Yet a lot of people may (rightfully) ask why they’re giving their funds to a teen or college missionary rather than directly to the orphanage, clinic, school, etc.
 
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