This is a fluff piece full of pictures and words. No numbers or financial statements. On page 26 there are a couple pie charts that vaguely outline some general categories of outflows and inflows. No details. If a NYSE company (or even a private company) tried to put out an Annual Report with this kind of glossed-over detail, they...well, they couldn't get away with that.
People who run these 'not-for-profit' 501(C)(3) institutions are ironically not held quite as "accountable" as people running normal businesses who have to report to shareholders. In the N4P world, where the "shareholders" are reduced to the general public or generic taxpayers or even to the disaster victims themselves -- it's a lot more difficult to get them to own up accountable to the people they serve.
Most of the time the donors are just happy to get their tax write-off and they leave it there.
The article basically implies they use exceedingly broad categories, and don't exactly characterize everything the way they should. See also this Propublical article:
There's a chart half way through that shows, by NPR and Propublica's estimates that instead of 90% spent on actual charity, they only spend 60%. This would tank their rankings in places like Charity Navigator and Givewell.
So the short answer to your question, is that they are vague as hell about how they spend the money, and they probably cook the books.
I don't know, perhaps they're particularly opaque about Haiti or other "big" disaster relief efforts, or perhaps other charities are just as bad.
I'm just summarizing what I took from the article, in particular skip ahead to around 4m50s. The audio is much clearer than the transcript on this issue.
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That is why you convert the spread sheet column to a number before you export to csv. The fulfillment center was lazy, when you paste large numbers like that into excel, it auto converts your large number into scientific notation. you simply only have to change the data type of the column and it will change it back to a number. A CSV is dumb, it only exports what Excel displays.
These kind of posts sound like "sat on a deckchair on a beach with laptop in one head and a rum coconut in the other"
But I imagine they are more like "sat in a room in a house near the beach"
Same as a normal office, just a better view.
Well that is how it is for me living by the beach in the tropics. I can see the surfing point, I can see the parachutes pulled by speedboats, just a distraction and increases the desire to be "there" and not staring at a screen trying to fix bugs. Sometimes, I just move the table to face the wall.
And don't get me started about trying to work in a bar / cafe / restaurant near the beach. Mosquitos, noise, disturbance, tuts from staff that you are sitting there too long not buying enough.
Each to their own though. I suppose I am jealous of the posts that imply you can work 4 hours on tropical island, earn a western wage and live like a King. Which is far from the case in my experience. Even if I know these posts are trying to sell something based on this dream, or convince themselves they are doing the right thing (despite what they may hear from friends and family)
I dear say some contractor with fantastic contacts and get a great paying contract with a couple of phone calls. Most people don't have this.
I tried working on a beach for a few weeks in Thailand once. With the mosquitoes, bright glare on the screen, sunburn, and the lack of anywhere to get a decent cup of coffee, I found it to be not nearly as pleasant as I'd imagined it to be.
It sure is a nice dream to have during rainy winters when you're stuck in a cold office though.
If you work with a good remote team, they usually don't make you work on 9-5 kind of schedule. Sure they ask for some overlap, but it does allow you to take a Tuesday morning and go surfing/skating/just relax and then make up for it in the evening. I do. Yesterday I took my kid to a waterpark in the morning and then just worked until late to make up for it. No issue from my team whatsoever.
It also helps if all the team is senior and can work well together and understands the business. I can't see this working as well when you have juniors that need mentoring, or seniors that have zero clue about the business side of things so they need constant questioning.
Other companies see remote work mostly as a way to pay less for a developer, but want to treat him like he is in the office (heard stories of some companies wanting to have a constant video link to the office to make sure you aren't goofing off).
My point here was not about working the beach vs. somewhere else. It was about the possibility of working from wherever you want, but it has to be an appropriate place for what you're doing, of course.
For example this article I wrote in a terrace next to the beach. But that's because I love the sea and I found a good place to concentrate. Maybe your place is a quiet space next to the forest, or a lake, or... whatever! Just wanted to share that it's possible!
While I would rather not work while on the beach, I can definitely see the value of being able to work while at the beach.
What I mean is that, instead of having 2 weeks of vacation per year, having to schedule it, and when I get to the location I'm out of work mode entirely -- maybe I can up and leave my hometown at will, spend a week at the beach or in the mountains or wherever whenever I wish, and still be connected and able to get my work done.
So, for example, I could get up in the morning and get some stuff done. Around 2 or so I pop out to the beach for a few hours. Then I come inside to finish up with work in the evening.
I work remotely. This past winter I traveled to visit some family in a warm place. I spent the nicer days off, and enjoying my locale, and the not so nice days working as usual.
It's a nice way to only take 2 days off from work but actually get some relaxing time in a different setting.
You might wanna have a look at our post about moving our office for a month to an island in Thailand http://blog.mobilejazz.com/working-remotely-from-a-tropical-... which gives you a bit more insights on how "running a business on the beach" actually looks in reality.
Agreed. There's something to be said about maximizing productivity and relaxation time. Also, it's nice that they have a business model that works from a remote location, but personal interactions with clients go a long way for most companies.
