Catholic Charities' dependence on government contracts also colors its public positions. When the Republican leadership suggested that charities need to do more after welfare cuts, the head of Catholic Charities objected. No moral person could disagree with these goals, and Catholic Charities has accomplished them for many years. That, of course, is a political mission that may or may not have anything to do with actually helping people. The changes at Catholic Charities illustrate the dangers of nationalizing our great network of private philanthropies.
Governments clearly like to contract out to nonprofits.
It allows legislative priorities to be met with less money. In private nonprofits, there are no union pay scales, pension plans or health insurance plans to worry about. And governments can often make grants on the condition that the charity raises a percentage of the money from the private sector. But that also means that the nonprofit organization is subsidizing government projects out of private dollars. The receipt of government money also presents private charities with difficult dilemmas.