The Potential and Risks of Outcomes-Based Budgeting

I just received my newsletter from the National Council of Nonprofits. One article stood out, "The Potential and Risks of Outcomes-Based Budgeting." It's news worth following. I copied the article below, complete with links.

The Potential and Risks of Outcomes-Based Budgeting

Whether a political fad or a budgeting solution for the future, state governments across the country are applying the lens of “cost-benefit analysis” to re-evaluate past and current spending priorities. The approach allows “policy makers to compare options and identify those that most effectively achieve outcomes ... at the lowest cost to taxpayers,” according to Sue Urahn, Director of the Pew Center on the States. Washington State reportedly has gone the furthest in identifying evidence-based policies by utilizing a model developed by the nonpartisan Washington State Institute for Public Policy that evaluates all available research and multiple factors to help legislators prioritize budget decisions.

 

Illinois is actively engaged in implementing a “Budgeting for Results” program, and the state association of nonprofits, Donors Forum, is providing significant nonprofit input. In a recent letter to the Governor, Donors Forum shared preliminary findings from its forthcoming nationwide research that examines national models for Budgeting for Results, as well as the most important lessons Illinois can learn from other states. To ensure a strong and reliable network of bedrock community services, the letter urges the Governor to adopt principles that focus on transparency, engagement of nonprofit and philanthropic expertise, and creation of outcomes that are least harmful to the people and communities of the state.

Elizabeth Warren - worth sharing one more time

“There is nobody in this country who got rich on their own. Nobody. You built a factory out there - good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory ... Now look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea - God bless! Keep a hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”     - Elizabeth Warren

happy holidays everyone

"... the ones who call the shots won't be among the dead or lame,

and on each end of the rifle we're the same... "

May the blessings of a forgiving universe embrace us all, now and always.