Today, I got an e-mail letting me know that one of the mentoring programs I signed up to do is being delayed — for the second time. It was initially scheduled to begin in mid-October. In October, I was notified it would be delayed to mid-November. Now that we are at the end of October, we’re being told it will begin sometime in January, and that the lead apologizes for the delay but hopes the wait will be worth it.

And when I went to the AFSP Walk event on Sunday, not only did no one know where the walk signs were, but no one knew where the photos where of the people the walk was being done in honor of. Chris had to run around to look for the sign that said “In Honor of” my brother’s name, and the photo with his name on it. Not only that, but when I went to sign in after already pre-registering online (hence, having an online donor drive), when they got to the page with the last set of last name W, the page was missing! I told them that I’d raised over the minimum for an event t-shirt, so they gave me one anyway. And if they didn’t believe me, I’m sure I could have pointed to my name on the “Top Fundraisers” sign.

I can’t really blame non-profit organizations for being disorganized — they are underfunded and under loved, and very likely completely under staffed and over worked. The worst part is knowing what they are trying to achieve in the world relative to all these for-profit organizations, and how little they get compared them.