Overhead is good!

Nonprofits often get beat up over their administrative overhead cost. Overhead is not a dirty word; it's certainly not waste. Waste is wrong in any setting. Lutheran Services Carolinas' overhead is low, which looks attractive, but may be too lean to get the job done. Nonprofits would not exist without overhead. Let me introduce you to some of LSC's overhead. None of us teammates would get a paycheck if it weren't for the Tammys at the LSC Administrative Office. Joyce Hathcock in accounts receivables brings home the bacon at Albemarle, collecting from Medicare, Medicaid, and private pay. What she brings in as revenue, we use for salaries, supplies, and food for the people we serve, the power bill, etc. If Matt Hembree wasn't the Quality Management Director out of the Charlotte Office, LSC wouldn't be COA accredited. If not accredited, which is required, child and family services would be out of business. IT is overhead, but we would all be out of a job today without our computers and technology! Marketing at Trinity Oaks is considered overhead, but if prospective residents don't hear about us and ultimately move in, then we won't be able to provide the desired services for residents or jobs and benefits for employees. The list of essential overhead is long. Some people think overhead is bad. It is not. It's really just a way to distinguish between those people and services who directly touch a person we serve, and those who don't. Neither can live without the other. As in everything in LSC, it takes all of us to get the job done.