Money-Organization Relationship

Money. This is one of the things which has a major influence on every aspect of life. Everyone needs money and it can be the motive for most. Money appears to have both positive and negative effects on the way we act. Money can create opportunities to change for the better by donating and sharing with people in need. Yet, it can also lead to destroying family, community, organization, and even nation because money can cause greed.

Greed nowadays has become the societal norm. As Frank Buchman said, “There is enough in the world for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed.” There is greed everywhere and ironically, some social projects often also get abused as a fig leaf for human greed in the organization. For instance, spending money on individual benefits and operational costs more than on charitable causes and social influence, also the unfair treatment among the team members. This will not only bring harm to the organizational sustainability but also the relationship among the team members in which trust is being broken.

Instead of money taking control of our lives, we can choose to take control of it by setting goals, getting organized, and creating budgets. John Maxwell said, "A budget is telling your money where to go, instead of wondering where it went." A community or organization ideally should have a clear budget and take control of its finance wisely. Several things that we can do are by understanding firmly the goal of the community or organization, prioritizing people, not projects, exhibiting fairness in the group, and developing transparency and accountability in the budget process.

I have been amazed by lots of people in the Initiatives of Change (IofC) circle who contribute and donate to the IofC programs, and activities and also support individuals and teams. We have been blessed to get donations and support from various sources. I have also been inspired by those who contribute their time, energy, thoughts, and ideas to this global movement. Everyone’s contributions have made a better difference in various aspects and initiatives.

Having been reminded of the four core values of honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love, money cannot buy values. It cannot buy character, integrity, and a sensible heart. Henry Kravis once said, "If you don't have integrity, you have nothing. You can't buy it. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not a moral and ethical person, you have nothing."

In the end, money can expose us to how we as individuals and teams react to money and the relationship with money can affect on decisions we choose and the effect our relationship with money has on our choices. It is not that paying individuals/employees or operational costs do not support social work; it is about how we plan to do it better and fairer, reflect on what actions we take, living life with values, and fairly dedicate ourselves to the work. A question for us to reflect on: how do we value money as individuals and as part of a community or organization?

Yofrina Octika Gultom