Jen Hatmaker

[Anonymous]

Post 01/27/2022 12:11 Subject: Jen Hatmaker
It’s very clear that most of the posters here do not have any actual nonprofit or charity experience. It costs money to run those organizations. You need staff. You need benefits to attract and keep good staff. There’s overhead. Depending on how you set up the organization and where it’s located, you may have to pay taxes on certain things. LOTS of nonprofits and charities invest a portion of their funds so that the money continues to grow even if donations are down. There’s fundraising and marketing costs. You need money to pay independent auditors. The list goes on.

You may not want to hear this, but nonprofits and charities are businesses too; the only difference is where the profit goes at the end of the day. People who complain that not enough of their dollar is going to the mission or that a nonprofit CEO is getting paid too much don’t understand this. Business is all about money. It costs to money make money. It’s the exact same in nonprofits.

So, I do have charity experience. I've worked for one for a number of years in the past, and both my parents have worked for one for decades. Obviously, when the service charities provide is non-monetary value, they have to be compensated for that value (ie. Habitat pays their contractors to provide the service of building a house).

The difference with LC is that they're just a middleman. Unless a person really believes that they aren't capable of deciding for themselves where they should donate their money, LC isn't providing any value. The inherent "business plan" of being a middleman between donors and the actual charities themselves is suspect.

So I think people's discussion of LC's finances isn't stemming from a misunderstanding of what costs legitimate charities incur, it's questioning what value LC is claiming to provide for the "service" they are providing, and whether that's ethical.

[Anonymous]

The whole purpose of a giving circle is not to take money from people who “can’t decide for themselves”. The value of participating in a giving circle is to pool resources in order to donate a larger sum to one organization or cause in order to increase awareness and engagement on the issue. There are typically events and volunteer opportunities with the chosen cause or organization as well. It has nothing to do with taking peoples money and deciding where it should go without any input. If you are part of a giving circle, you have an opportunity to help decide where it goes. Or, if it’s already earmarked for something, then you choose to donate or not. This isn’t a scam and I don’t see how any of this could be considered unethical. It’s a very common type of charity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s very clear that most of the posters here do not have any actual nonprofit or charity experience. It costs money to run those organizations. You need staff. You need benefits to attract and keep good staff. There’s overhead. Depending on how you set up the organization and where it’s located, you may have to pay taxes on certain things. LOTS of nonprofits and charities invest a portion of their funds so that the money continues to grow even if donations are down. There’s fundraising and marketing costs. You need money to pay independent auditors. The list goes on.

You may not want to hear this, but nonprofits and charities are businesses too; the only difference is where the profit goes at the end of the day. People who complain that not enough of their dollar is going to the mission or that a nonprofit CEO is getting paid too much don’t understand this. Business is all about money. It costs to money make money. It’s the exact same in nonprofits.

This is not to say you shouldn’t be skeptical. You absolutely should. Do your research and ask questions. If something doesn’t seem right then it’s probably not. If you can’t find an organizations records or they are not upfront about those things, then yeah, that’s shady.

But every time I see people posting and complaining that not enough of their dollar is going to the mission, I think it’s really just doing a disservice to nonprofits and charities because that makes people not want to donate. When in reality nonprofits need operational money too. Do you want a successful nonprofit? One that brings in millions and millions a year? Then you have to have the infrastructure and the staff who has the ability to be able to bring that in. That all costs MONEY.

And no, I am not and do not claim to be related to hatmakers or their charity in anyway. Just somebody who reads these threads, agrees with most things that have been said, and also has worked in nonprofits for the last 30 years. The last thing I will say is that giving circles inherently are not shady. Again be skeptical into your research, but giving circles have been around for a very long time and a lot of them do good work.

Are you that daft? No one said there isn’t overhead or shouldn’t be reasonable administrative costs. NonProfits and Charities are HUGE business. However, to be skeptical and question how LC is better than me giving directly to a cause that I have researched and decided worthy? What make them better? What value are they providing.

[Anonymous]

I am skeptical that none of their financials are on Guidestar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s very clear that most of the posters here do not have any actual nonprofit or charity experience. It costs money to run those organizations. You need staff. You need benefits to attract and keep good staff. There’s overhead. Depending on how you set up the organization and where it’s located, you may have to pay taxes on certain things. LOTS of nonprofits and charities invest a portion of their funds so that the money continues to grow even if donations are down. There’s fundraising and marketing costs. You need money to pay independent auditors. The list goes on.

You may not want to hear this, but nonprofits and charities are businesses too; the only difference is where the profit goes at the end of the day. People who complain that not enough of their dollar is going to the mission or that a nonprofit CEO is getting paid too much don’t understand this. Business is all about money. It costs to money make money. It’s the exact same in nonprofits.

This is not to say you shouldn’t be skeptical. You absolutely should. Do your research and ask questions. If something doesn’t seem right then it’s probably not. If you can’t find an organizations records or they are not upfront about those things, then yeah, that’s shady.

But every time I see people posting and complaining that not enough of their dollar is going to the mission, I think it’s really just doing a disservice to nonprofits and charities because that makes people not want to donate. When in reality nonprofits need operational money too. Do you want a successful nonprofit? One that brings in millions and millions a year? Then you have to have the infrastructure and the staff who has the ability to be able to bring that in. That all costs MONEY.

And no, I am not and do not claim to be related to hatmakers or their charity in anyway. Just somebody who reads these threads, agrees with most things that have been said, and also has worked in nonprofits for the last 30 years. The last thing I will say is that giving circles inherently are not shady. Again be skeptical into your research, but giving circles have been around for a very long time and a lot of them do good work.

Are you that daft? No one said there isn’t overhead or shouldn’t be reasonable administrative costs. NonProfits and Charities are HUGE business. However, to be skeptical and question how LC is better than me giving directly to a cause that I have researched and decided worthy? What make them better? What value are they providing.

Yes I’m so daft. So please point me to where anyone said going through LC is better than giving directly, or where anyone said not do give directly, or where anyone said not to question or do your own research. I’ll wait.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s very clear that most of the posters here do not have any actual nonprofit or charity experience. It costs money to run those organizations. You need staff. You need benefits to attract and keep good staff. There’s overhead. Depending on how you set up the organization and where it’s located, you may have to pay taxes on certain things. LOTS of nonprofits and charities invest a portion of their funds so that the money continues to grow even if donations are down. There’s fundraising and marketing costs. You need money to pay independent auditors. The list goes on.

You may not want to hear this, but nonprofits and charities are businesses too; the only difference is where the profit goes at the end of the day. People who complain that not enough of their dollar is going to the mission or that a nonprofit CEO is getting paid too much don’t understand this. Business is all about money. It costs to money make money. It’s the exact same in nonprofits.

This is not to say you shouldn’t be skeptical. You absolutely should. Do your research and ask questions. If something doesn’t seem right then it’s probably not. If you can’t find an organizations records or they are not upfront about those things, then yeah, that’s shady.

But every time I see people posting and complaining that not enough of their dollar is going to the mission, I think it’s really just doing a disservice to nonprofits and charities because that makes people not want to donate. When in reality nonprofits need operational money too. Do you want a successful nonprofit? One that brings in millions and millions a year? Then you have to have the infrastructure and the staff who has the ability to be able to bring that in. That all costs MONEY.

And no, I am not and do not claim to be related to hatmakers or their charity in anyway. Just somebody who reads these threads, agrees with most things that have been said, and also has worked in nonprofits for the last 30 years. The last thing I will say is that giving circles inherently are not shady. Again be skeptical into your research, but giving circles have been around for a very long time and a lot of them do good work.

Are you that daft? No one said there isn’t overhead or shouldn’t be reasonable administrative costs. NonProfits and Charities are HUGE business. However, to be skeptical and question how LC is better than me giving directly to a cause that I have researched and decided worthy? What make them better? What value are they providing.

Yes I’m so daft. So please point me to where anyone said going through LC is better than giving directly, or where anyone said not do give directly, or where anyone said not to question or do your own research. I’ll wait.

1st: Thanks for waiting. Wtf? 2nd: You intimated that we don’t know or understand that there are administrative costs and overhead. I think almost everyone here understands that there are many costs to running charities, and there are paid staff, which is totally fine. But many question the amount of the “admin” costs and the dilution of money in a 2 step process that further deducts more money before it actually gets to the parties for which the donations are intended. That’s the point nearly everyone replying is making, genius. Further, a giving circle is good because it makes larger donations for a greater impact? OK, I understand the logic to a point, but what difference does it may if one $25K donation is made from one donor or 100 $250 donations? To me the giving circle is just away to collect a bunch of money, back out administrative costs and make another donation where more costs are going to be taken out. Personally, I’d rather give directly to the source if possible. Also, I think there’s a fair point that the whole things just feels icky to a lot of folks. But hey, do what you want with your money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Who’s going to Jen’s house for dinner?

So I am sick of this.

Yup. It’s Brandon.

Legacy Collective is legit. Totally transparent for donors. Do your research. Pure, Inc DBA as Pure Charity. Stop your conjecture. Neither Jen nor I make zero dollars off donations. I personally volunteered for three years to start the initiative. It does amazing work. And is incredibly effective. Stop the witch hunt. Jen is the real deal. And so is Legacy Collective. Shame on you for your unfounded accusations.

WAIT - You lurked for 60+ pages of people dunking on the mother of your children (and some posts criticizing your own kids), and you didn't speak up until people start criticizing the overhead budget of the nonprofit you founded? Bro, that speaks volumes.

[Anonymous]

^ I agree 100%. But I don’t think that was really Jesse James errrr Brandon. Besides, if it were, I imagine his current love interest wouldn’t be too happy with him. But l, hey, who really knows?

[Anonymous]

I stumbled upon an article Jen recently wrote for Relevant magazine. It was beautifully written and really thought provoking. She discusses our initial instinct to “burn all that offends us to the ground”; yet discusses why it is so important for us to honor our friendships and our community EVEN WHEN we disagree. It all felt very old-school Jen, and I loved it. I wonder how she reconciles this with her actions and outspokenness over the past few years. And why she has not promoted this article on any of her social media pages? I want to believe this was a heartfelt attempt at uniting; but I can’t help but feel skeptical at the same time…….

[Anonymous]

Now she’s also selling Beautycounter.

[Anonymous]

Back to family gossip - did anyone see the vids of Remy receiving her car for her bday? Brandon and Sidney were there and things certainly seems strained between the two of them. She hasn’t forgiven him for whatever he did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Back to family gossip - did anyone see the vids of Remy receiving her car for her bday? Brandon and Sidney were there and things certainly seems strained between the two of them. She hasn’t forgiven him for whatever he did.

She’s the only one who doesn’t appear in Brandon’s get togethers

On the other hand Jen and Brandon seemed cordial to each other

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now she’s also selling Beautycounter.

Jen supporting an MLM is so disturbing to me. She has been such a voice for justice and occasionally for women in poverty, it’s crazy to see her participating in a scheme like this. Plus, presumably her me-course on financial literacy gives solid principles on managing one’s money which participating in an MLM is the direct opposite of.

[Anonymous]

There is definitely a monetary benefit to running and owning a “non-profit”. It’s a wonderful target for sketchy grifters, almost too good.

The amount of things you can “write-off” as a business cost are almost endless. Expensive dinners, cars, vehicles, staff, remodels, clothes, Broadway tickets, even.

That’s why so many pastors of mega churches are total crooks.

Charity brokers also provide nice public platforms for those cutting the checks. Lots of Halo Power when you are the kingmaker. Even if other people are providing the funds.

[Anonymous]

https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/274586127

Failing Grade. 55 out of 100z