Chronicle of Philanthropy – The ‘Overhead Myth’ Debunked, Again: A Q&A With Dan Pallotta

10 years after his TED Talk, Dan Pallotta is back with “An Inconvenient Truth” for charities. The fundraiser and activist’s new film UnCharitable, a polemical adaptation of Pallotta’s 2008 book of the same name, once again takes aim at the so-called overhead myth, the dogma that nonprofits ought to be rewarded for minimizing their overhead costs, even for essentials like salaries, rent, or insurance.

UnCharitable might change the way you think about charities. UnCharitable, an adaptation of Dan Pallotta’s book and TED talk, lays out the case for treating charitable institutions differently than they have been, removing arbitrary handcuffs and equipping them with the kind of resources, tolerance for risk and reasonable expectations that would enable them to attract topnotch talent and truly address the problems they were created to solve.

Eye-opening. A must-see documentary.

A new documentary titled UnCharitable could fundamentally change what businesses do to help make the world a better place.

UnCharitable is based on the book, Uncharitable by Dan Pallotta, and a 2013 TED Talk called The way we think about charity is dead wrong that has had almost 5.5 million views and continues to be viewed over 1,000 times a day.

Stephen Gyllenhaal looks at the true power of giving in the documentary Uncharitable (Sept. 22).

Abramorama has unveiled an official trailer for a documentary film titled UnCharitable, made by filmmaker Stephen Gyllenhaal (yes, he’s also Jake’s dad). It will be opening in theaters later in September, after playing at a few summits and conferences earlier this year already.

UnCharitable is a timely and crucial documentary that uncovers the realities of philanthropy (it’s bad) and introduces a radical new way of giving. In an emotional call to action, this invigorating film demands that charities be freed from traditional constraints so they can truly change the world. Featuring Dan Pallotta, Chris Anderson (CEO of TED), Steve Nardizzi (Co-Founder of Wounded Warrior Project), Darren Walker (President of the Ford Foundation), Edward Norton (Actor & Founder of Crowdrise) and more.

Abramorama has acquired North American distribution rights to “UnCharitable,” a documentary about the roles that charities and non-profits play in society. The indie distributor will open the film on Sept. 22 in New York at Angelika’s Village East and Sept. 29 in Los Angeles at Laemmle’s Royale before beginning its North American rollout.

“UnCharitable” was directed and produced by Stephen Gyllenhaal, the director of “Waterland” and “Dangerous Woman.” It features the humanitarian activist Dan Pallotta, whose Ted Talk “The Way We Think About Charity is Dead Wrong” was viewed more than 17 million times and has inspired conversations about how charities can be more effective and how we can support them.