August 25, 2009
New Comedy Series Skewers Philanthropy
Are you ready for a TV show that revels in the “dark side of generosity”?
Showcase, a Canadian cable channel, next month will premiere The Foundation, a half-hour comedy series that is a vicious satire of philanthropy.
It follows self-serving Michael Valmont-Selkirk, the head of a $300-million family foundation, as he bumbles through his job. In one episode he spends the night on the street to raise money for homeless people, but ends up buying alcohol for them and smoking crack cocaine.
With some foundation executives concerned that the NBC drama The Philanthropist didn’t portray charitable work in the best light, the new show will likely leave them speechless.
As a press release puts it: “The nonprofit world’s worst nightmare is coming to Showcase.”
A preview of the episode is below. It includes graphic language.
What do you think of the new show?
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I’d watch it… but I’m not moving to canada to do so :)
— Jacob Berkman Aug 25, 10:44 PM #
As I wrote in my column on The Philanthropist at the beginning of the summer, the approach taken by this series is the typical one for the portrayal of philanthropists in popular culture: people who are pretending to do good, but are actually doing bad.
— Les Lenkowsky Aug 26, 09:22 AM #
To be honest, it looks pretty funny. I hope it shows on American TV.
— Anonymous Aug 26, 01:38 PM #
It is what it is and we have to be able to laugh at ourselves. Tasteless and inaccurate? Sure…aren’t most sitcoms?
That aside, I think the more important question is, “Are we doing enough to communicate about the work of philanthropy so that people don’t walk away from shows like these thinking that foundations are really like this?” (at least not all of them) :)
— Jillian Aug 26, 02:57 PM #
This is ridiculous though I must disclose that I’m one of the few I’m aware of who never could understand why people thought “All in the Family” was funny and harmless.
I have to concur with Jillian – clearly the philanthropic field is not doing enough to effectively communicate about our intentions and efforts to support quality of life in the present and the future, so that the sector is not vulnerable to misconceptions and ridicule encouraged by shows like this.
— Heather Tunis Aug 26, 03:38 PM #
Philanthropists funny? How about those who receive their money? Nonprofits are full of self-serving, sanctimonious, and in many cases, ineffective people who squander philanthropist’s and donors’ money. There are those who are well meaning but perform poorly and justify it based on their poor pay or the good works they perform.
I can testify to the consequences of poor procedures, inadequate systems and accounting controls; deceptive accounting; and outright dishonesty. What’s worse is that, based on a recent study, fraud is more prevalent in nonprofits than in government or for profits.
Much is made of the nonprofit culture and how ill fitted people from the for profit world are for working within it. This is often true, but not for the reason those who propound this view think. Individuals from the for profit world take it as given that they must work hard, be good stewards of other peoples’ money, and have clear, concrete and achievable goals to guide their efforts.
Many nonprofits have a vision, often a grand one. But frequently one that is beyond their resources and ability to achieve. And these visions are rarely supported by concrete and actionable strategies.
I believe the root cause of this is that there are no true stakeholders in nonprofits — no one who will make the time to take on the those with vested interests, the inefficiencies, and worse.
Not true, you say? Okay, who? The individuals, communities or causes served by the nonprofits? No, none of these can hold a nonprofit accountable. Imagine a homeless person trying to criticize a soup kitchen for the waste and inefficiency inherent in their approach!
The nonprofit’s leadership? Leaders of organizations are notoriously bad judges of their own performance. In fact, we all are.
Wait! Boards you say; they hold nonprofit leaders accountable. No, they represent no one other than themselves. Most have no stake substantial enough to command them to put in the time and effort to hold their organization or its leaders truly accountable. How far can they get by, say, criticizing ineffective or counter-productive efforts by volunteers? How can they measure accomplishments when no meaningful strategy exists, other than to get through one more year?
How many nonprofits have an exit strategy? By that I mean, a long term plan whose accomplishment means the elimination of the problem they are trying to address? Not realistic, you say? Okay, but what would the organization do differently if that were its goal? Shouldn’t that be the goal that guides its efforts, even if it can’t be accomplished?
Try imagining a for profit tackling the problems nonprofits target. How would the bottom line and owners looking over their shoulders affect the actions of the leaders and staff?
Would they run an organization the way the the American Cancer Society is run, to take one example? Most think of ACS as an organization largely devoted to curing cancer. This is understandable; ACS’s mission statement says the nonprofit is “dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem.” In 2008, ACS raised $1.1 billion and spent [drum roll please] … $120 million, or about 11% of it on research grants. ACS spent $60 million on meetings and travel that year — not including spending for these items within the research program. ACS spent twice as much money, $213 million, on fund-raising! Moreover, $732 million of unspent, unrestricted money sat on its balance sheet at year end. Between 2007 and 2008, ACS retained $116 million of the funds it raised in those two years rather than spending it on research! What are they waiting for!? An attentive board, would question ACS’s actions in relation to its mission.
No, on second thought, the charity sector isn’t a good source of comedy, it’s really a tragedy.
— An observer Aug 26, 06:53 PM #
I can’t wait for it! The Canadians are very sharp when it comes to dissecting work environments. Check out anything with Rick Mercer; and “Slings & Arrows,” which takes a look behind-the-scenes at a theatre festival. Minus the ghost, I was able to match co-workers from different jobs to most of the characters. And there were scenarios and conversations that played out almost exactly to some of my past work experiences. Also, as opposed to American comedies that are very black & white (well, a very dull beige), the Canadians (& the Brits, for that matter), capture all the grey in between and force us to recognize the good/bad/ugly in ourselves and our own jobs.
— Love Our Neighbors to the North Aug 27, 12:25 PM #
I agree with “an observer” (#6) that much can be done to improve the effectiveness of nonprofits. We need to shift from good intentions to meaningful results. In an era where competition for funding is becoming more difficult (government, individual, and corporate), and daunting local and global issues remain, everyone involved in philanthropy needs to come together to increase effectiveness. Perhaps a little comedy will provide much needed self-examination by everyone involved. -a cautious optimist
— Beth Parkhill Aug 29, 11:25 AM #
Comedy people. Remember COMEDY. Jokes. Laughs. All in good fun. Look in the mirror – have a LAUGH!
— Rachel Sep 7, 06:32 PM #
As a member of the cast in one episode, I can tell you that this show is much more about the fact that not everybody is fit to manage such foundation than a satyre of the whole philanthropic movement.
Just my two cents.
— Maurice Tituer Sep 7, 06:32 PM #
This looks so good! Cutting edge satire. After 2 and a half minutes, I am a huge fan. It’s about time Canada put out something of this caliber. Congratulations Mike and everyone involved!
— Kevin McGrath Sep 7, 06:45 PM #
looks funny as hell. i’ll be watching. it’s just comedy folks; there’s humour everywhere if you look for it.
— Susan Sep 7, 10:47 PM #