Not every charity has a $30 million budget. Image: Vincent Albanese/Flickr (Creative Commons)

As if we don’t have anything better to do with our money at Christmas time. Anyone else get one of these?

It’s not even a week since the last Jackrabbit arrived, begging us to give them money. Nigerian banking scammers don’t spam me this much.

What “experiences that transform peoples’ lives” will you create with our money, BMOrg? A trip to Amsterdam for “community leader” Crimson Rose?

How’s that transparency coming along?

From: Burning Man <steven.young@burningman.org>

Dear Steve As you may know, 2014 has been a transformative year for Burning Man. We are growing and changing to more effectively support the Global Network, our Arts and Civic Engagement Program, and building Black Rock City to support growing connections and foster creativity around the world. We are reaching out to you again to remind you that the end of the year is approaching. Everything we do is driven by community participation, communal effort and gifting. With your help, we will reach our goal of supporting more art, artists and community leaders. We will focus our momentum on programs and experiences that transform people’s lives. Together we can inspire more creative and connected communities. We appreciate your participation in our community and we appreciate your help in extending our work beyond Black Rock City. Please give today, every gift is valued no matter it’s size. Make a donation! To learn more about the programs your gift supports, follow the links below. ARTS: Global Art Grants Big Art for Small Towns Black Rock City Art CIVIC ENGAGEMENT: Civic Art Program Burners Without Borders Grants for Community Initiatives GLOBAL NETWORK OF EMERGING COMMUNITY LEADERS: Regional Network of over 250 volunteer Regional Contacts on 5 continents Global Leadership Conference in San Francisco (April, 2015) European Leadership Summit in Amsterdam (February, 2015) Please make a donation today! Want to learn more? Click here to read the Jack Rabbit Speaks…

Related Posts:

All We Want For Chri$tma$ Is Your Money talked about the recent “Special Edition” of the Jackrabbit Speaks, which rather than wishing us a Merry Christmas, was dedicated to us giving BMOrg money, including a cut of our Amazon shopping.

Dear Burning Man… A reader responds to an email from BMOrg soliciting money.

The Art of Giving went through everything Burning Man Project (BMP) has done since they came up with it 4 years ago.

Art World Rocked By Burning Man’s Latest Move looked at the merger between BRAF and BMP, and the poor track record of both charities in giving grants out to the causes they support, versus accumulating cash in the bank and spending it on overheads.

2013 Charity Results looked at the performance of BRAF from the latest IRS filing. We’re still waiting on the 2013 IRS Form 990 for BMP.

Art Versus Money looked at the terribly one-sided Arts Grant contract, that seems to treat artists with contempt.

Charity Versus Tax-Free considers the idea that “non-profit” is not the same as “charitable”, and looks at some of the clauses in the organization’s new Bylaws that don’t seem consistent with Directors running lavish Commodification Camps.

Burning Man’s Gift Economy And Its Effect On Mainstream Society talks about the hypocrisy of BMOrg claiming credit for the charitable efforts of Burners, and pretending they gave financial support to charities that they actually didn’t – including a couple that were substantially funded by myself, and received $0 from BMOrg who promoted them as examples of “all the good Burning Man is doing in the world”.