mekka okereke Nov 9, 2023

So, Mr Beast made a YouTube video where he dug 100 wells in impoverished areas of Kenya and other African countries. CNN did a story on how he was being criticized for his good deeds. They quoted Saran Kaba Jones, a Black woman who has been building wells in Africa for 15 years, and a single Twitter commenter.

But... The Black woman praised Mr. Beast? She only asked that we consider maintenance, because many of the wells she digs are because existing wells weren't maintained.

#BlackMastodon

Show threadmekka okereke Nov 9, 2023

And Saran pointed out how difficult it has been to raise money or draw attention to the need, but a famous YouTuber, who happens to be white, is able to do so instantly. She doesn't criticize Mr. beast for this. He didn't create that funding gap. And "That's the way the world works." Again, she praised the attention.

But of course, the "They're trying to cancel Mr. Beast!" outrage machine has already spun up, so Saran is being attacked on Twitter. 🤷🏿‍♂️

People are primed to hate Black women.

Show threadmekka okereke Nov 9, 2023

People pointed to her Pro Publica filing, calling her a grifter, because 90% of the money her non-profit takes in, goes to their own expenses! 40% of it is her own salary! Mr Beast gives 100% away!

But, a few things:

1) She works on this full time all year. She's a consultant.

2) 90% is the same expense ratio as UNICEF and Red Cross, and... Mr. Beast's charity, (called Mr.Charity)🙂🙃

3) Saran is a Harvard grad who left a job in private equity, and only pays herself $47K a year 🤯

Show threadDavid McMullinNov 9, 2023
@mekkaokereke
I work in the non-profit world, and the prevalent idea that “overhead” is necessarily equivalent to waste is something we constantly have to fight against. An organization with no expenses and no staff is not likely to be more effective than one professionally run by competent people who are paid fairly. And what counts as overhead depends a lot on what type of work you’re doing.
Show threadDavid McMullinNov 9, 2023
@mekkaokereke
For example, a local org collects food from restaurants and grocery stores, and instead of it going to waste, they distribute it to shelters, soup kitchens etc. A simple and valuable service. They get all the food for free and they give it away. So their money is spent on gas, mileage, and people’s time to do and to organize the work—it’s all “overhead”! How effective and efficient are they? I don’t know, but the overhead percentage will not tell you that.
Show threadLog 🪵

@mcmullin @mekkaokereke The food donations should be assessed with a dollar value, which goes on the balance sheet as (in-kind) donation and mission expenditure. That lowers the overhead percentage by a huge amount.

Likewise, volunteering is an in-kind donation that should be assessed at least at minimum wage, which goes right back out as mission expenditure for worker wages.

Nov 9, 2023 at 4:44pmWeb
Show threadDavid McMullinNov 9, 2023
@log
True. I’m sure they would do that, but I’m just laying out the concept in a simple way for people who may not have thought about it before. And depending on who is doing the evaluating and how, in-kind income and expenses are often left aside as a footnote or below-the-line additional information rather than plugged into the formula that produces the score they judge you by.
Show threadLog 🪵Nov 9, 2023
@mcmullin Any metric that determines how money is spent will be manipulated, anyway. The org accounting is an overhead cost!
Show threadDavid McMullinNov 9, 2023
@log
Exactly—in order to eradicate overhead, they impose all sorts of tracking and reporting requirements that just increase your overhead.