October 2023
What I’m Thinking About
Nonprofit Boards - is this all there is?
The past month one of the (many) things I’ve been mulling over is the traditional nonprofit board structure - why do we operate like this and how can it suck less?
Those of us who have worked for nonprofits or served on a board are all too familiar with the issues. Boards generally meet a few times a year (some members never show), they have lengthy discussions, make grand empty gestures, and then disappear until the next meeting rolls around. I have worked for five different nonprofit organizations and served (and currently serve!) on several other boards, and even I am guilty of this.
Then there are the clear discrepancies between who typically serves on a nonprofit board and the community the nonprofit serves. I googled “Nonprofit Board” and the picture above is what shows up on Wikipedia - generally older, white people, in business attire, sitting around a table inside a conference room, eating boxed lunches. Nonprofits feel pressure to depend on their boards for fundraising and the people reflected in this picture are the typical people we turn to - those with networks, money, terminal degrees - the people society designates as “knowing what to do”.
I’m wondering - what are the alternatives? I know there are other ways to handle this. There is the board model where you keep the board tiny and just there to handle the bare minimum legal requirement, but that does little to support an Executive Director. Are nonprofits asking too much of our boards? Is it reasonable to expect a group of volunteers can assist in fundraising significant sums or sit at sign-up tables at our events? If we don’t look to our boards for these things, then what?
If you have the answer, let me know! Please. For now, here are some resources I’ve been looking to as I mull this over.
Structuring Leadership: Alternative Models for Distributing Power and Decision-Making in Nonprofit Organizations by Building Movement Project
Evolutionary Governance: Principles and Practice by Vanessa LeBourdais
Reimagining Governance by Ontario Nonprofit Network
Articles and News
Whatever Happened to #CharitySoWhite?
A really beautiful and insightful essay from members of the #CharitySoWhite movement about how, in their words, white supremacy and burnout led them to mostly disappear for over a year, and what they are doing to come back stronger. Highly recommended reading. (#CharitySoWhite)
New Poll: Overwhelming Support for Nonprofit Policy Priorities and Public Engagement
A recent poll by Independent Sector finds that voters value nonprofit advocacy and civic engagement, and are more likely to donate to an organization that advocates for their community or conducts nonpartisan activities to help people in their community vote. (Independent Sector)
Our Nonprofit King, Vu Le, highlights the issues with the idea that individual expenses and outcomes can be attributed to individual donors and funders. (NonprofitAF)
Studies and Research
Results of a survey of 166 individuals (primarily in the UK) by Grant Givers’ Movement focused on questioning the ethics of philanthropy itself, linked to the origins of wealth, exploring how ethics play out in our grantmaking practice, and how grant makers can shift their practice to be more equitable, and to respond to the calls for much needed reform. (Grant Givers’ Movement)
Resources
Grant Givers’ Movement Bank of Good Practice
Yet another reading list within a reading list! This is a round up of articles and resources for information on participatory grantmaking models, practical applications, funding social movements, and more. (Grant Givers’ Movement)
An oldie but goodie - Community Centric Fundraising’s list of suggested ways to align your organization with CCF principles. (CCF)
For Funders
Grassroots Grantmaking: Embedding Participatory Approaches in Funding
“This report is about creating change within the philanthropic sector supporting funders to understand why participatory grantmaking approaches can help them not only devolve power out into communities but also help to make the best funding decisions in order to create solutions to the challenges society faces.” (Hannah Paterson for Winston Churchill Memorial Trust)
Trust-Based Philanthropy Is the Key to a Just Transition
“One of the centerpieces of the Biden administration’s agenda, the IRA extends existing tax credits for solar and other green energy, invests in the clean energy workforce development pipeline, and directly supports low-income areas and other “energy communities,” including through a $7 billion EPA grant program to expand zero-emission technologies like solar. While we applaud the EPA’s grant program for solar and other renewables, most community-based and grassroots organizations lack the internal resources and external networks to apply for, access and manage direct federal funding.” (Inside Philanthropy)
Introducing the Just Transition Investment Framework
“In 2020, philanthropic institutions in the U.S contributed over 13 times the amount of money to extractive global stock markets as they did to all of their grantmaking focus areas (Source: Climate Justice Alliance). In response to this horrific imbalance of capital allocation in philanthropy, movement and philanthropic leaders came together to develop a Just Transition Investment Framework that offers a strategy for how philanthropies can shift capital and power to frontline BIPOC communities who are building local regenerative economies.” (Justice Funders)
