Hi everyone, next week, on April 20th at 11am Pacific time, please join me and Rusty Stahl of Fund the People, as we talk nonprofit staff, burnout, what’s needed right now in this political context, and what we need to learn from the right-wing movement about how they invest in their leaders and cultural warriors that makes them so effective. The webinar is free. Get more details and register here.
A few months ago, a colleague reached out to me. She had been deeply involved in the right-wing space and spent years there before finally realizing that it didn’t align with her values and leaving the movement. While we talked on video, I was simultaneously impressed by and envious of what she described, which I’m paraphrasing here:
“We are treated so well. They found all sorts of ways to support you: mentorship, internships, professional connections, training, retreats, concerts, you name it. They sent us to all-expense paid conferences all the time, with the best accommodation and perks. It didn’t matter that we were new to the conservative movement and hadn’t accomplished much. They really make you feel like you belong and that they care about you. Because they do.”
In Sally Covington’s seminal research paper on the differences between conservative and liberal funders, investing in “cultural warriors” is one of the five key strategies the right has used so effectively (The other ones are: Build effective institutions through 20+-year grants, get conservative politicians elected, do whatever it takes to ensure judges including on the Supreme Court are right-wing, and control every form of media to shape cultural narrative.)
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