The government values my used jeans more than my time.

Inauguration Day Disclaimer: This is a soap box I hope to retire with the new administration. It is time for us to abandon the institutional mentality behind resourcing nonprofits and embrace a new way of engaging leaders who work to solve our social problems. I have every hope and expectation that we as a community will begin to tease out the solutions.

Recently, as I was itemizing a bag of clothes to donate to a local charity, it occurred to me that the government valued my used clothing more than my time. For each pair of adult jeans, I added up $6 as fair market value for deduction purposes. This is what is allowed in Form 526 under contributions of property.

I then reflected on a not too long ago time in my life when I committed long hours of leadership to a local 501C3 organization that focused on our local farmers market. In fact, I spent a good part of three years of my life putting in countless hours working to raise awareness and build a coalition around systemic food issues in North Texas. I engaged a variety of stakeholders (consumers, government, media, and institutional support), to further the conversation around our regional food system. All this while holding down a "real day job" (and raising a family).

So back to the $6 tax deduction for my used (still cute) jeans. It occurs to me that our federal incentives are focused too narrowly. As a career social sector leader, isn't my volunteer time devoted to systemic issues something of value? Something that could be called a "contribution", with similar tracking and incentives?

The bigger questions would be....
How do we find ways to engage the skills and expertise cultivated by our citizens to help solve the social issues of our time? How do we give nonprofits a competitive edge to attract these social entrepreneurs, even for a short time. And how do we get leaders, to do what they do, and help distribute their burden when it is directed to nonprofits.

I have a few ideas. You?