[*BCM*] Anne: choose one or the other...

[Anne Wolfe]

I did sell my stock.  People have assailed me for that decision, and I did provide details to Turtle's request for what happened.  It wasn't just a one -off it was a consistent and constant "yeah, yeah, we'll get around to it." with no getting around to it.  No one's come to me with an olive branch, not in the slightest.
 
When you yank your funds from a non-profit, I think it is important to say quite loudly "here's why."  If you look at other circumstances, this is how things get re-shaped.  If I just yank my funds (or don't renew my membership, or contribute any more as in this case) it could be:
because my financial circumstances have changed
because I've moved
because I died (these three are probably the most common reasons people don't renew) orrrrrrrrr
because I had real problems with how my money was being spent.  Think about it - a huge reason why the AIDS ride started to lose lots of members, etc was that it got out that the company that was organizing it was a for-profit corporation that gave less than half the profits of the ride to the charities it was supporting, and was keeping the rest as extensive profits.  Enough yanking, refusals and yelling (not to mention contrasting events like the all volunteer PanMass Challenge) and the corporation was gone and people are more vigilant about this kind of thing.  If I feel my MassBike dollars and efforts weren't being utilized well, effectively or at all, if I support the underlying cause it is my dedication to the cause and not the organization that makes me speak up.  Why should I speak up and speak loud and pay for my funds to not be used for causes I support?  That would be like my joining the NRA when I'm pro-gun control, or joining right to life organization when I'm
 pro-choice.  It doesn't make any sense, fiscally or otherwise.
 
I'm not criticizing MassBike's goal of growth, I'm criticizing how they want to go about doing it.  The way it was presented (in what I now know was not an official report) led with "Mass Bike's goal is to double their membership."  It was about membership for membership's sake, not "if we do greater outreach or have more success, it will lead to more people wanting to be members.  If they just want to add members, to me that's not a very noble goal.
 
I also feel that MassBike's events for members don't add shareholder value.  I feel that actual results of MassBike getting legislation passed or funded would add shareholder value.  MassBike's events for members cost members money to get in, use their membership funds to cover costs, and are good for nothing but the existence of MassBike as opposed to the furthering of any of the goals they espouse.  As for PR, if only members of MassBike are attending, how much PR or growth does that promote?
 
As for the interim "successes" they don't seem to have any means or even particualrly desire to go further.  The police training is funded by the Highway Administration, not MassBike, and is majority provided to out of state officers, not Massachusetts ones, so MassBike members aren't reaping most of the benefits of that program, or even the profits of licensing fees for developing the program.  And MassBike has an executive director on the panel of the Mass Highway revision committee, but so far that doesn't seem to be translating into anything concrete.  Apart from Dori being on the committee and ED of MassBike, the two events don't really seem all that connected.  It is good someone so informed is on the panel, but that doesn't make it a MassBike achievement,a nd if it is funded by MassBike I want to know from my representatives why MassBike membership is paying for her and not tax dollars.  But if tax dollars are paying for her time and expertise, it isn't a MassBike acheivement,
 it is a Dori acheivement.  They're not the same thing.
 
I don't get to vote in MassBIke, and that's fine.  But that doesn't mean that I don't get to speak about it, my thoughts and my experiences.  You don't have to agree, but I'm not going to shut up.

Thomas John Vitolo <tjvitolo at bu.edu> wrote:
> A lot of people talk about corporations being beholden to
> the shareholders, and how this is a circumstance that can
> be exploited either for good or evil (depending on what
> side of the fence you sit on and what the actual exploitation
> is). Non-profits really are even more accountable, as
> generally funding is even more tight. If you feel your
> non-profit isn't leading, or acheiving or working hard
> towards what you want, speak up, speak loud, and yank
> your funds.


I agreed with you right up to the very end. Yes, non-profits are similar to
corporations in some ways, and the metaphor that contributors are like
shareholders is right on. That's why I disagree with the last statement.

Either (a) speak up, speak loud, and keep contributing to the group, or
(b) yank your funds (perhaps with a single "here's why").

But, your doing a bit of (a) and a bit of (b) -- in a way that isn't helping
anybody. You've gone on a self-rightous bitchfest, and aren't even paying for
the privledge. You've claimed you were "rebuffed" yet failed to produce details
upon Turtle's request. You've criticized MassBike's announcing intermediate
successes because they weren't full successes (eg including bicycles in the
drivers manual and tests, developing training for police RE cycles, progress
toward changing the way road and sidewalk infrastructure is built and modified
in the state of Massachusetts). You've criticized MassBike's goal of growth,
which would enable them to do more work. You've criticized MassBike's events
for members, which do things like (i) provide immediate shareholder value, like
dividends, and (ii) help to provide PR for MassBike, so that they can grow and
provide more returns in the future.


Most importantly, you've said your piece, and you've demonstrated no inkling of
desiring to work with the people who've responded to you with olive branches in
order to make MassBike better. So, you can pat your own back all you want about
your non-profit work, but at this point all you're doing is sapping resources
from this non-profit. Be a shareholder, or sell your stock. As I said earlier,
I hope you choose the former -- but if you don't, that's fine. Until you become
a shareholder again, you're simply not entitled to proxy votes.


Regards,
Tommy Vitolo


Thomas John Vitolo
Ph D Systems Engineering Candidate,
Boston University

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