This summer, we’re planning to transition leadership of Community-Centric Fundraising (CCF) from its co-founders to a CCF Global Council, and we sincerely hope that you will consider applying for this. There are more details about what it all entails, but first, here’s backstory for those of you who like context!
The Hub
The Ethical Rainmaker: “How I Became an Accidental Sweatshop Overlord” featuring Kristina Wong
International comedian, performance artist, actor and elected official Kristina Wong, talks about the subversive game, the performance of her lifetime (elected office) and her journey as an accidental sweatshop overlord through her latest mutual aid project and book The Auntie Sewing Squad. Based in LA, California learn about the connection between art, organizing and radical politics.
For Black professionals, resigning isn’t giving up. It’s liberation.
I made the choice to tender my resignation in the fall of 2021, but not for the reasons you may think.
By now we have all endured seemingly endless punditry on the Great Resignation — with economists, employers, and politicians alike all making their case for why Americans need to return to work and what the nature of that work should be. The most recent tally indicates that 75.5 million Americans quit their jobs in 2021. Some are unwilling to return to an office, others are in search of higher wages, and a greater segment is switching industries and taking up new ventures entirely.
Community-Centric Fundraising cannot be neutral: A reflection for 2022
A question that often comes up in our in our sector is: “Should fundraising be ‘neutral?’” Meaning, should fundraising and fundraisers stay out of political discourse? Should we avoid contentious causes and stances? Should we simply raise money and let other leaders in the sector deal with the challenging and polarizing conversations?
After all, the way in which the nonprofit sector has been built legally prohibits most organizations from directly or indirectly participating in political campaigns for candidates. And many foundations actively discourage political involvement, lobbying, and advocacy.
But this in no way means that our work and our movements must remain neutral. Everything we do and every choice we make is political.
Beyond salary transparency: Be the hiring manager you want to meet
I dread job searches. I look forward to them about as much as buying pants online or trying to find the person at a corporate bank who can override the system software to correct an ownership error in an old organizational account. I know that I’m not alone about this.
Not long ago, I asked the development director at a fast-growing nonprofit known for its leadership on racial justice and LGBTQ+ issues how the search was going for their new associate director position. They had a lot to say. None of it was good. The “perfect candidate” accepted a verbal offer, then wanted to renegotiate upon receiving the letter of hire.
The Ethical Rainmaker: Courageous Fundraising Principles with Virginia Community Voice
When community-centric fundraising launched their content hub and 10 principles, thousands of organizations and people took note – and many took action. Lea Whitehurst-Gibson and Bekah Kendrick of Virginia Community Voice talk about how they built and delivered their Courageous Fundraising Principles and how they center community in their work based in Richmond, Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy. Learn about strategy and tactics in this story!
How Getting Let Go From my Nonprofit Job Finally Helped Me Stop Pushing for Change
For over twenty years, I have been part of a spiritual program that has a useful axiom: “expectations are premeditated resentments.” Most of the time, I know better than to have any expectations but sometimes, I forget. When I was getting ready to birth my first and only child, for example, I expected to have a natural childbirth. I had a plan, midwives, candles, the whole thing. The birth turned out to be long and complicated and, in the end, anything but natural. I spent several years working through my resentments and the parts of that experience I was responsible for, the largest of which were my expectations.
Underpaid staff don’t need motivation, they need dollar bills and benefits
“Financially, [working at a nonprofit] can’t work for a lot of people. And in fact, with a nonprofit our size — boy, you almost have to be in a committed relationship with somebody else with an income, because you’re not — it’s hard to support yourself on what we can pay people, in Denver.”
This was the moment my Executive Director (ED) finally admitted that what I was being paid wasn’t enough to support me. I was just one month shy of six years into my position at the organization, and she didn’t say this quote directly to me. She said it on a podcast that she was featured in as a nonprofit leader.
The Ethical Rainmaker: How To Feed A Movement with Tomme Beevas
TV celeb and James Beard Award-winning chef, Tomme Beevas talks with Michelle about how the lynching of George Floyd – less than two miles from his restaurant, played out in the creation of Pimento Relief Services, a truly community-centered organization in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Learn about liberation in action through this inspiring story!
The 2021 CCF big ol’ rewind mega round-up
We’re closing out our second year of posting content to the Community-Centric Fundraising content hub. We feel incredibly lucky and honored to have worked with so many talented and passionate folks this year to expand our collective knowledge.
Here’s an anthology of everything that was published in 2021, organized by theme (and in order of date they were first published).
How NOT to treat folx with less privilege who understand oppression better
By Krystal Kavita Jagoo, MSW, RSW
Let me ask you a question: Has everyone had a career that has often meant ensuring ethical treatment for folx with less privilege, regardless of their personal feelings?
I know the answer is no, not everyone has — but white leaders are particularly bad at it.
The Ethical Rainmaker: The Metric of Love with Oregon Food Bank
How can love be a metric and what does it look like to measure that instead of fundraising goals? The Oregon food bank surprised many folks in the nonprofit community when they revealed a new concept, measuring love instead of fundraising. In this episode, Nathan Harris and Vivien Trinh of the Oregon Food Bank, describe the thinking and process around how they changed the practices of the Oregon Food Bank to center love!