I don’t want to define myself by what I do, or my performance. I want to instead be. People pursue what my life looks like because capitalism wills us to. It looks like success. Expectations to look like things are working for you are literally chewing people up and spitting them out…
Essay Archives
Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) and changing the sector
Some nonprofits and a lot of nonprofit workers they surveyed love those mysterious little packages from phantom donors. All I see is unfettered, hyper-individualistic capitalism with little structure to consider community needs.
My workplace aligned with CCF; they didn’t know it.
It is easy to feel frustrated when you are passionate about CCF but your workplace does not seem interested or is hesitant to engage. Do not despair! The people where you work might be more aligned than they initially seem.
Building a liberatory future: Rethinking fundraising communications for lasting impact
In our pursuit of justice, equity, and liberation, we cannot afford to lose sight of the inherent humanity at the core of our endeavors, even if it feels impossible to raise money any other way—language matters.
Treating your donors as partners: Where to start?
One of the key tenets of Community Centric Fundraising is “Treating Your Donors as Partners” – but where do you start?
What you can do this Pride month: Disrupt Israel’s pinkwashing and your local Pride events’ complicity in it
Pinkwashing has become even more despicable and insidious because an ethnostate is using it to justify the genocide of Palestinians. And every member of the 2TLGBIQA+ community must band together to say unequivocally, Not in our name!
The trauma of grant writing to support the unhoused: PTSD, vicarious trauma, and problematic leadership
We, as an organization, encourage trauma-informed care for clients. I believe part of why I was hired was my lived experience status. But when I try to bring my full self to my job, I find it unsafe.
“I am more valuable than you are”: A perspective on nonprofit hierarchy culture
And throughout the past five years, I’ve had this major question persistently nagging at me: why do we, by default, impose hierarchical power structures on work that is specifically meant to distribute power more equitably?
A call for responsible AI that leads with care and imagination
Responsible AI must be considered more than a buzzword or a box to check; it is a commitment to developing transparent, equitable, and accountable technology. It means we need an approach to design that considers the inclusion and representation of all stakeholders, particularly those likely to be easily ignored in technological advancements.
Let’s talk about how nurturance culture can improve our movement
We, collectively, need to discuss how we are contributing to the burnout of the BIPOC women who serve as moderators in our movement and, more importantly, how we can conduct ourselves to match their intentionality.
Multiculturalism is a cancer to Black progress
This modern-day multiculturalism claims that it serves a diverse society, but it serves no one but mainstream white interests. This multiculturalism is inherently anti-Black.
Nonprofits and values-aligned financial decision making: Using our resources for social justice
It’s no secret that nonprofits often have to make difficult budget decisions. However, many people don’t realize that these decisions can perpetuate some of the very systems we are trying to dismantle.