Inspired by CCF’s 10 Principles of Community-Centric Fundraising, I have reflected on how I champion DEIB in my role, and wanted to share my strategies with other higher education Corporate and Foundation Relations (CFR) professionals.
Essay Archives
What “How to Build a Sex Room” can teach us about relationship-building
Since fundraising is almost entirely built on relationships, what can we learn about relationship building from “How to Build a Sex Room”? And what would it look like to apply these lessons to fundraising?
5 Things I Learned from Facilitating My Data Equity Workshops
My workshops to advance equity in data are built with this intention — to build collective knowledge around data collection and visualization in a way that allows us to appropriately challenge those places where data can lead to exclusion and alienation. I learned five lessons by offering these workshops to individuals from different roles, sectors, and data comfort that I want to share with you.
For professionals of color, bringing our whole selves to work shouldn’t mean reliving trauma for the benefit of white colleagues
“I’ve navigated a lot of spaces that have implicitly or explicitly not been for me. Over time, you learn what parts of yourself to bring forward and what parts to protect.”
9 ways to transition nonprofit leadership from performative to transformative
“To turn words and values into meaningful and impactful action, nonprofit leaders must transition our personal leadership and organizational strategy from performative to transformative.”
Our Humanity Can’t Be Timeblocked
“Many companies and organizations have recognized that a 4-day workweek is a great idea but haven’t actually done it yet. When researching the concept, I felt as if there was a dearth of practical, logistical information about how companies can transition. I decided to journal about how the new policies were affecting my workflow and to track what happens when the rubber meets the road.”
It’s time to stop coddling our donors: how radical transparency makes us stronger
“Our work compliments the already existing efforts of those who are being marginalized. It can be hard to come to terms with this as a nonprofit employee and as a donor.”
4 antidotes for scarcity mindset
“…if our source of support doesn’t come from the ‘master’s house,’ from racism, from capitalism, from the United States, where does it come from? I offer that we turn to Nature, or Earth.”
7 Liberatory Signs That Made Me Apply for My Job
“I’ve been seeking a justice-centered workplace where I can be my authentic, Queer, Trans, Latinx self for my whole career. Like many, I’ve been exploited as an employee and I need a workplace where I am represented, gendered appropriately, and can thrive — what Social Justice Partners Los Angeles terms a ‘liberatory workplace,’ where everyone feels belonging and freedom.”
The highs and lows of CCF in practice: 9 approaches we’ve championed
“Many fundraisers recognize that current fundraising practices and philosophies are harmful and founded on white saviorism but are unsure how to dismantle oppressive practices. I hope to shed some light on how we have approached CCF.”
Dressing up: we must overcome class shame in fundraising to build true equity & justice
“How do we honor and uplift our lived experiences of socioeconomic class, and turn them into a source of strength to become fearless fundraisers? I don’t have all the answers, but I do know we should examine how we learned about money as children, because this affects how we operate in the world as adults.
White people: Heal thyself to be more effective at antiracism!
“…it wasn’t until participating in a program to unlearn my racist conditioning — Healing from Internalized Whiteness (HIW) — that I began to view mental wellness beyond a lens of individualized self-care for my own benefit. I now understand the importance of mental health as a foundation for collective antiracism work.”