CCF Global Council and application FAQ

People can submit their applications in writing, video, visual, or audio-only formats. This decision was made to challenge some of the traditional ways in which we create application structures and gatekeep opportunities in our sector. We actively want to encourage folks to express their interest in a format that speaks to their strengths and preferred ways of communicating, and not be constrained by the written word.

Applications need to be submitted in English. As we are heavily encouraging engagement from folks outside of the United States, Canada, and other Eurocentric countries, we recognize and value the diversity of linguistic backgrounds that people may bring. However, regretfully we currently don’t have it in our budget to hire interpreters for planning meetings for the next year, and we don’t currently have the capacity to read applications in other languages. This is our limitation as mainly English-speakers, and we hope to expand the movement’s capacity to offer programming and content in multiple languages in the future.

We will intentionally include a diversity of professional and life experiences, and will not have minimum requirements about specific years of experience or role. While CCF is largely defined as a movement to transform nonprofit fundraising and philanthropy, it is not confined to fundraisers, development directors, grant writers, and the like. Folks with non-fundraising backgrounds who align with CCF’s values and principles and indicate interest in expanding this work, alongside relevant lived and professional experiences that could add value to the CCF Global Council, are strongly encouraged to apply. We also recognize that traditionally our sector overvalues professional experience in ways that make access to opportunities inequitable for folks with less time in the field.

We will not exclude white folks from applying, but as noted above, encourage those who hold or see themselves in positions of power to hold space for marginalized identities. The CCF Founding Council has been an all-BIPOC group of leaders for the first two years of this movement. And while we want to continue to center the experiences of BIPOC leaders within our sector, we also recognize that true transformation cannot happen without engagement from all within the sector. This largely includes white allies as well. If you identify as a white ally who believes that by serving on the CCF Global Council, you bring valuable insight, deep analysis, lived experience, and perspective into shaping the future of this movement, please apply.

Global Council members will not be allowed to serve in perpetuity. We, the transition pod, will be proposing term limits to the inaugural Global Council, along with a required break between terms, as well as a lifetime limit for how long someone can serve on the CCF Global Council. The intention behind this decision is that while we want to diversify the Global Council generationally and allow folks of all different experience levels to contribute, we also recognize that there are a plethora of ways of contributing to the CCF movement beyond serving on the Global Council. We hope folks will consistently interrogate themselves, their own power and privilege, and relinquish seats in favor of redistributing power to new leadership.

While we seek to transition to a CCF Global Council, we want to be clear that a movement — our CCF movement — isn’t meant to be or feel hierarchical. The CCF Global Council should be held accountable by the movement as a whole, as they will not own this movement(’s ideas) in any way, shape, or form. As we have experienced through engaging with many of you on Slack, in virtual gatherings, and through the brilliance of dozens of content creators on the CCF Hub, there are many ways to lead, organize, and build momentum in this movement. Leading on the CCF Global Council is just one way you can use your lived experiences in service of advancing this movement.

The selection committee will likely be made up of folks who are not themselves applying to be Global Council members. This could be transition pod members, current CCF co-founders, and CCF community members.

As part of the decision to sunset CCF’s current leadership model (made in early 2021), CCF Founding Council members and co-founders Andrea Arenas, Erika Lian Chen, James Hong, Rehana Lanewala, Vu Le, Anna Rebecca Lopez, Michelle Muri, Christina Shimizu, and Sean Watts have all committed to not applying to the CCF Global Council to allow new folks to step up to the helm.

Short answer: No! Long answer: Well, we hope not. Our intention with this transition to a Global Council is that the movement can flourish and grow beyond what anyone initially imagined, which means a constant influx of new support to build the movement from the inside out. Our intention behind setting term limits is to require folks to contribute to the movement in other ways and share power with others. However, we, the authors of this inaugural process will not be the only voices or decision-makers, so in reality, we cannot promise anything about the future of the movement.

OF COURSE! We wouldn’t be a movement grounded in racial and economic justice if we didn’t believe in compensating people, and especially people with marginalized lived experiences, for their time, labor, and energy, now would we? In their first year, Global Council members will receive a stipend of $5,000. Future compensation will be contingent upon fundraising and compensation structures decided upon the CCF Global Council itself.

We’re honestly not sure yet. Movement-building is messy and complicated work, and while we want to learn from challenges that other movements have experienced, we also recognize that we, as a group of four individuals of color, do not have all of the answers. This is a question we’re hoping to think more about in conjunction with other folks within the movement.

No! Staying true to the intentions of this movement, we are not trying to recreate existing nonprofit structures that often perpetuate harmful imbalances of power. While the CCF Global Council will have the reins to a lot of similar functions that boards often have control over — fiduciary, operational, strategic, etc. — we will be tasking the Global Council with building a style of leadership that collaboratively and creatively steers a movement that is driven by people on the ground.