The read

From my Sunday column in the Athens Banner-Herald ...

Because the results are small in scale, many people often feel as if little to nothing is being done in areas like poverty. Incremental successes are just that, and that's what makes the process so frustrating.

That frustration can, though, serve as a call to action and be channeled into positive energy. How one answers that call, however, is crucial to the long-term success of local nonprofits and the various causes they seek to address.

There literally are hundreds of nonprofit organizations in Athens-Clarke County. Yet it seems as if new organizations crop up daily, run by sincere people who are outraged by what is - or is not - going on in the community. These folks have supposedly uncovered a problem that must be addressed, and, in turn, they mobilize.

Lost in this well-intentioned fervor, in many cases, is any research into the efforts of existing nonprofits. This can lead to chaos - duplication of services, increased competition for dwindling funds, and the loss of longtime supporters of existing nonprofits who move to work with newer efforts.

In the end, successful models rarely get the opportunity to expand, as they focus instead on day-to-day survival against agencies that perform the same functions.