Self-funding means your board doesn’t have to side-eye every press release. It means you can call out injustice, push for systemic change, and stay true to your mission—without sugarcoating or playing nice. Our work is about breaking chains, not asking for longer ones.
Maria Rio Archive
The white liberal’s favorite weapon: Isolation
Getting you alone is not about privacy or resolution. It’s about neutralizing the threat of your voice to protect their comfort. It’s not a commitment to addressing injustice; it’s a calculated tactic to isolate, reclaim power, and maintain the status quo.
The unbearable hypocrisy: Fundraising in a world of compromised integrity
Divestment from practices and structures that perpetuate harm is a necessary step towards fostering belonging and ensuring that all employees can thrive.
Why “decolonizing” is the wrong word for changes we make inside oppressive systems, and how we can strive to be anti-colonial instead
I have visited this topic with many colleagues over the past few years. We see “decolonize education,” “decolonize the workplace,” decolonize this and that – but what does that really mean?
Your 9-step guide to ditching donor-centricity to actually effect systemic change
In a world where “doing good” has become a marketable commodity, an ESG metric, or an acceptable defense against valid criticism, nonprofit leaders must take time to reflect on the role we play in the Nonprofit Industrial Complex (NPIC).
How consulting can help women of color get out of toxic nonprofits, set boundaries, and have the energy and space to create the change we want to see
By Esther Saehyun Lee & Maria Rio
For women of color, consulting offers a unique opportunity to resist and challenge the structures in place. By being open to work with multiple organizations, consultants can choose to only partner with nonprofits focused on ethical fundraising and dignified work.
Just because you hire a CCF fundraiser does not mean you are committed to the CCF principles
By Esther Saehyun Lee & Maria Rio
Young fundraisers of color join organizations because they know the harms the sector causes and want to make a difference. When they first arrive, they are optimistic and pour their energy into the mission they believe in. However, often, they find out that the greatest challenges to ethical practices are not external but internal.
Holding yourself accountable for your allyship
So how can we quantify allyship and truly hold ourselves accountable in and outside the workplace? One way is to set quantifiable weekly, monthly, and annual Tangible Action Goals (TAGs).
Yes, you too: calling collusions out
Secrecy, exclusion, and collusions have hindered and oppressed racialized individuals in our sector. By “collusions,” I mean closed-door, non-transparent decision-making between those with power. These conversations do not include all affected parties. They maintain the status quo and cater to those in power; the results presented to those most harmed as final.
Strategy, partnerships, implementation: where to start?
“Fundraisers have so much power to push forward equitable practices at the organizations we represent. You can commit to using that influence to encourage your nonprofit and partners to push for systemic change.”