About 15 years ago, I was invited to speak on a panel at a conference run by a large, well-funded national organization whose mission was to represent the entire nonprofit sector. The entry fee for this 3-day conference was $2200, which my org with a budget of $500K couldn’t afford. The panel organizer asked me to apply for a scholarship, which I did, but it wasn’t successful. “Sorry,” I said, “I can’t speak on the panel because my scholarship application got rejected.” She was able to convince the organization to let me in.
Those were three surreal days. I felt like an unwashed peasant who had sneaked into the royal ball. But that dissonance tapered off, and I was disappointed at how a space full of the most powerful nonprofit organizations and leaders were focused on some of the most banal topics possible (“Legal compliance for foundations” “How to lower overhead costs” “The art of keeping donors happy” “Signs someone from a small organization has crashed your conference”). I stuffed my tote bag with as many free swag items and snacks as I could get, consolation prizes for the disillusionment I felt at our sector’s leadership.
It’s been a decade and a half since that conference, and it seems things have not changed very much. These large national organizations are supposed to be the voice for our entire sector but often tend to focus on larger organizations, leaving the smaller, most vulnerable organizations behind. As one colleague puts it:
“If smaller nonprofits and nonprofit associations aren’t invited to the table and given a voice, you will see a deeper divide between the haves and the have nots […] big, well-oiled nonprofit machines and the smaller grassroots orgs who are barely getting by. And impact begins and ends in communities. Those organizations who are embedded in communities already, who have gained the trust of those communities and advocate for those communities every day, are the ones who are and will suffer the most.”
Meanwhile, with everything being on fire right now with nonprofits being attacked by Trump, Republicans, and fascist tech bros, I am hearing a lot of frustration from nonprofits on the frontlines regarding the inactions of these orgs. With a few exceptions—notably the National Council of Nonprofits (NCN), who has been decisive and effective, working with Democracy Forward to immediately sue to stop the executive order that would have frozen federal funds for thousands of organizations, and filing several more lawsuits against the administration since then—most people in our sector have no idea what our handful of national organizations are doing to fight against this regime and advance our sector. As another colleague says:
“[T]hese organizations seem more focused on self-preservation, driven and influenced by the priorities of the most privileged institutions. At a time when courageous leadership is desperately needed, where are they? What are they doing? How are they demonstrating their commitment to equity when they fail to listen to our most under-resourced and vulnerable nonprofits? We don’t need performative solidarity or clueless statements. We need bold action—yesterday. Once again, those with the most to lose are taking the greatest risks—not by choice, but because lives literally depend on it.”
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Read full article here.
