Where the money goes?

I’ve often been asked, “Should people really know where their donations go? Are they qualified enough to use this information?” My answer is, “Let’s talk about political campaigns. Do you need to know where the money goes? And what about your taxes?” The answer, by the way, is “Definitely, yes. People should know.”

We all think that taxes are “our money,” and it is no surprise that all of us feel that we have a legal right to know where our money goes in this case. Both rich and poor taxpayers have an equal right to know. Just like the right to vote, we don’t require special qualification from voters. It’s a democratic principle.

When you think about charity as “giving back,” which has always been on table for the richest generation on the planet (baby boomers, who still hold great power), you don’t feel that the money is yours. But new generations don’t feel indebted to society. In reality, they owe a lot of money for their higher education, and they are going to be paying their own debts far into the future. Giving money to nonprofits or to the new way of changing the world — crowdfunding — they do not pay it back, they “give forward”. By backing projects for good, the new generation co-creates a better world for everybody and tries to make it efficiently, using all the information that they can find.

So for us, Gen X and Millennials, it’s “my money,” and we definitely have a right to know where it goes. That right doesn’t require special qualifications from the donor, because the right to give today doesn’t require it.

Frank is building a public facing transparent ledger for social ventures that wish to show the outside world how they utilize funds. You can sign up for email updates at frank.money or chat with us on Twitter at @frankmoneyinc

If you would like to share you ideas or sign up for a test, please get in touch at be@frank.money