The nonprofit sector has an identity problem
Tim Sarrantonio
Generosity Experience Design | Empowering nonprofits to build a community of generosity
We keep hearing that we need to run our organizations more like a business.
We talk about hustle and personal brand. We talk about donor love and gratitude and retention and Facebook and direct mail and other things that distract us from the root point of why we even exist.
We exist to help.
We immediately blame each other for poor donor retention numbers coming out. We cut stewardship resources from our budgets. We give lip service to self care while shifting hours so mental health benefits no longer apply. We consistently pay wages below the national average. And the list goes on and on.
I think there is a decent argument to be made that the very nature of the nonprofit sector is one that is ultimately rooted in capital investment. We have individual giving, grants, corporate giving, foundations, and any other way someone can somehow pass along a gift to a nonprofit. Yet we need to step back and understand the sheer amount of money that occurs in our industry. Billions of dollars. And when that level of money comes into play, there's one certainty.
We will have capital investment continue to come into our space, I can guarantee that. Yet what my dream, my naive dream is that with this hyper intensive focus that we are receiving from the traditional capital focused market is that we can teach them the true meaning why we are such a force in the labor market while not following the rules. I'm trying to do that personally.
The nonprofit sector should be about care. It should be about gratitude and being excited to help. It should be the true definition of "customer service" and that we don't need any more lessons from the for profit industry and in fact they need to listen to us. We employ the third largest workforce in the United States yet the perception we face is that we're doing this "out of the goodness of our hearts."
I want to make it very clear that our sector is doing a lot of good in the world. Yet we are in a unique position to not only choose the future of how good is defined but also how good in our world is funded.
When you are given the choice to help your family, your community, your nation, your planet - where would you draw the line? Why would you draw the line?
It is very easy to be mean or indifferent or selfish. It is very very very hard to be grateful and caring and helpful. We need more people who are willing to do the hard thing in this world. We need your help.
Are you willing to make the hard choice?
GivingTuesday Senior Data Scientist, Data Scientist for the disinformation age, Disruptive Innovation Consultant, Fullstack Developer
12 个月I found an old research paper on this that looked surveys of people working at nonprofits vs for-profits or government from 1977 and 1990 and surprise: people working for a nonprofit were actually happier about their jobs, work, PAY, and not having leadership that lie to them or treat them like garbage. I guess the perception is not based on evidence. ref https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229533915_The_Quality_of_Employment_in_the_Nonprofit_Sector_An_Update_on_Employee_Attitudes#fullTextFileContent
Promoting Student Success | Writer | Education Leader | Program Manager
5 年Great article! Would love to see a follow up series exploring some of the impacts of the cuts & decisions you mentioned, Tim.
Rose City Philanthropy
6 年Tim, thank you.? I wish more vendors in our space would think big picture like this and maybe things would evolve for the better.? Instead, most are just posing as sector experts to sell products.?Rather than imposing the dominant paradigm, big problems are often best addresses across sectors and with collective wisdom- and care.? Thanks for this post.
Thanks for starting this conversation, Tim. I've often wrestled with the push to spend on programming rather than "overhead" in nonprofits, and how this can have a negative impact on how employees are valued, rewarded, compensated, etc. The nonprofit sector has an incredible opportunity to expand who we are in service to -- not just the mission or program, but also to each other as individuals, employees, and teams. I'd love to see a point at which organizations don't have to choose between doing good in the world for the mission /or/ doing good for our people. I think there's an opportunity to do both.
Writer / Fundraising Consultant / Scholar / Educator
6 年Great conversation opening. I think there is a tension between framing ourselves as helpers and as professionals... Like you're somehow not helping enough if you aren't selflessly seeking less pay and opportunity than another sector might value differently. I think we need to get past that... People don't seem look down on people in helping fields, like medicine, for also wanting professionalism and all that goes with, in the same way that they might a fundraising professional or something else specific to our sector.