4 reflections for a changing year…
The last two years have been… eternal. They’ve also raised some important conversations about how the social sector operates. Here are a few I’m excited about.
Elevate Every Stakeholder.
In our efforts to systematize the donor-centric model of fundraising, we have invested immense time and energy into celebrating our donors. We have a unique opportunity to reflect on these practices and apply them more universally.
Specifically:
Timely and personal thanks.
Transparent reporting on how gifts (money, time, knowledge, expertise) are being used.
Lots of people are making valuable contributions to the advancement of our mission. As we continue engaging in the work to make our organization more equitable, let’s dedicate more energy to celebrating the essential contributions of staff, volunteers, clients, and anyone else who makes our organizations run effectively.
Level the (public) playing field.
I’ve been known to have a few thoughts on annual reports… simply put, I’m not a fan. Specifically, I find our efforts of painstakingly poring over hundreds of names—double-checking the sums of cash and asset (stock, property, etc.) gifts—to ensure each donor lands in the proper “giving range” particularly egregious. Furthermore, many of our missions explicitly aim to combat the effects of socioeconomic inequality. Yet, we willingly categorize our own supporters and assign a hierarchy of status based solely on capital contributions.
Let’s be mindful of the ways we perpetuate stratification. Perhaps time saved on our annual report can be spent in meaningful conversations with our donors instead.
Plan for paid advertising policies.
To Facebook or not to Facebook? There are clear advantages to the continued use of the social network. Paid advertising makes reaching specific audiences much easier and for many organizations, it’s a primary communications tool for promoting events, programs, and services that they provide. However, the company has knowingly spread misinformation and hate speech and undermined consumer data privacy protections. For many of us, this stands in stark contrast to the missions we’re tirelessly working toward. As we learn more about the internal workings of the company (regardless of what it’s called), it’s time for some hard conversations about paid media and our missions.
Cultivate Community-Centric Fundraising Principles.
The Community Centric Fundraising(CCF) movement—grounded in social justice and equity—began taking shape in Seattle years prior to the pandemic. In 2019, organizers chose to expand the movement across the sector, and amidst a global pandemic and massive protests for racial justice, it’s grown substantially in the past two years.
A number of our traditional fundraising and communications practices reinforce systems of white supremacism and classism. As our organizations engage in internal equity work, it’s imperative we focus on our revenue-generating systems as well.
Read the CCF principles, sign up to receive CCF updates, and consider a donation to support the movement.
Our organizations exist to create a more equitable world. To succeed, we’ll have to examine fundraising and philanthropic practices through the lens of social justice.
This is certainly not an exhaustive list and most (if not all) require cultural transformation within our organizations and deep reflection on the ways our sector “does business.” It’s a long game and it’s never too soon to get started.
I’d love to hear what you think and what challenges you are focused on in the year ahead!
