By Rachel D’Souza and Esther Saehyun Lee
In honor of Asian American Heritage Month, Esther and I wanted to explore the potential roles and opportunities for those of us who identify as Asian or of the Asian diaspora in movements for justice like Community-Centric Fundraising.
This is a time to move beyond only diversity-based initiatives… and make the structural changes necessary to create a workplace where Black, Indigenous, People of Color, disabled, queer, trans and gender-expansive people, and others who face systemic oppression are safe to work.
Donor-advised funds (DAFs) continue to grow at a ridiculous rate, and criticism of them continues to be limited, and I thought it time to follow up on how the sector resists needed change.
A key reason I was drawn to Community-Centric Fundraising (CCF) is Principle 5: Time is valued equally as money. Yet, in most nonprofit organizations, volunteer engagement is not valued as equally as donor engagement.
Now is the time for those of us with privilege to leverage our power and show some solidarity. Now is a great time to examine our ability to divest from federal funding and commit to building a future rooted in justice and authenticity.
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.
Righteous rage is the sacred, ancestral fury that knows injustice is not meant to be swallowed but spoken, screamed, sung into being. It is the riot which brings freedom from slavery, fuels the gay-liberation movement, and keeps land and water defenders rallying in the face of police brutality.
The question I grapple with now is not new but remains painfully unresolved: When does someone truly become American? Is it a matter of time? Generations? Sacrifice? How many years must a person live here, and how many contributions must they make before their “Americanness” is no longer questioned?
…we’re letting far too many people and entities off the hook when we desperately need them to examine their behavior, beliefs, and actions that contribute to the oppression that those of us who are minoritized have always experienced and led to this fascist regime we’re sliding toward now.
Nonprofit organizations forced to do layoffs can take steps not to leave their ex-employees high and dry and actually support them during this time of need.
There’s an entire sector of nonprofit professionals, funders, and organizations dedicated to fostering meaningful conversations that go beyond the surface. This isn’t feedback for feedback’s sake; it’s feedback as a tool for transformation.
Trying to remove us from the public eye isn’t going to change the fact that we exist. And it’ll be nearly impossible to scrub us from history this time around… But it will make it so that not all of us survive until this onslaught of attacks end.