Opinion: Hidden costs in crowdfunding public services

A good deed never goes unpunished.

Earlier this month, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey did a good deed. As part of celebrity campaign #BestSchoolDay, the St. Louis native fully funded every Missouri classroom and school project on crowdfunding site DonorsChoose.org.

Initiated by fellow Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, #BestSchoolDay on social media committed over $14 million to fund nearly 12,000 projects ranging from art supplies to field trips from people like SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, NBA All-Star Dwight Howard, actor Samuel L. Jackson and Bill and Melinda Gates.

The campaign was no doubt a tremendous help for teachers in need, but they won’t go unpunished in the future.

Crowdfunding the basic needs of public entities is a Pandora’s box. It may seem small and innocent to fund a request for new art supplies, but it could have severely detrimental and far-reaching consequences. Once you open Pandora’s crowdfunding box, it’s not easily shut.

According to DonorsChoose.org, more than $77 million already has been raised on the website during this school year, funding some 100,000 projects and reaching 10 million students in 30,000 schools. More than 55 percent of schools that receive funding are in urban areas, and three out of four schools on the website are in low-income communities.

Dorsey funded all projects as of March 7. Now, three weeks later, DonorsChoose.org already has eight projects seeking funding from Springfield Public Schools teachers. Ranging from $181 to $1,152, current projects include alternative seating options and art in the library media center.

Gov. Jay Nixon visited Nixa High School last week to talk money, touting his proposed balanced budget for fiscal 2017, which included record K-12 funding. In contrast, the budget approved by the Missouri House last week falls short of his recommendation.

The scope of projects may be limited now, but as districts make due with less, it will only grow. According to the National School Supply and Equipment Association, teachers collectively spent $1.6 billion of their own money on school supplies in 2013.

We don’t ask doctors to pay for rubber gloves or construction workers to buy lumber, so why is it OK to expect teachers to buy classroom pencils?

The problem isn’t only limited to public education. Crowdfunding website Citizinvestor is a civic engagement platform for local government projects. With the tagline, “We empower citizens to invest in their community and create real change,” I fear we already may have come too far to shut the box.

A quick search turned up dozens of projects nationwide seeking funding. In Cumberland, Md., the library needs $10,800 to repaint its structural pillars.

“The Library System has applied for state funding, but was recently informed that other projects took priority. We will continue to search for funds to remedy these wonderful columns,” the campaign reads.

Officials shouldn’t have to rely on the generosity of others for simple requests, such as paint or a requested bike rack in Eugene, Ore.

Privatizing funding for a public concern could find school districts and governments eager to push those line items out of their already-tight budgets. It becomes an excuse to leave basic services up to the crowd to fund.

When the generosity dries up, the punishment will fit the crime and it will be the children who suffer.

Springfield Business Journal Features Editor and Audience Development Director Emily Letterman can be reached at eletterman@sbj.net.