Wild Woman Fundraising» Conflict

Collective Joy = How to Harness the Power of #Occupy for Your Nonprofit Cause

Mazarine — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:57:57 +0000

Protest Puppet from Paris: Image copyright 0olong from Flickr

What Barbara Erhenreich AND the Occupy Movement are teaching me is that we need to take the collective expression of protest around the world and have a dance-off.

Really?

YEAH.

What does your cause need next?

Art!

Music!

Face-painting!

Big puppets!

Why?

Why would you want to make people dance and sing around your very serious cause?

Because there is power in collective joy. There is power in celebration. Resistance is not about drudgery and speeches. It’s about a spiral dance, a circle dance, facepainting, big puppets, and changing the world one square at a time. Getting everyone to dance together.

Here’s a video from OccupyLove.org

Barbara Erhenreich wrote a book called “Dancing in the Streets: The Power of Collective Joy”

Dancing in the Streets by Barbara Ehrenreich

In it, she goes into detail about the collective joy, feast days, festivities from prehistoric times to the Greeks, the Romans, the 14th Century Europeans to modern-day sports fans.

From Laura Barcella’s interview with Barbara Ehrenreich on Alternet

“We are a very social species. I was reading about it for months and months, but came across this universal pattern of ecstatic rituals — it’s hard to think of any society that doesn’t have them. They all seem to feature these ingredients of costuming, dancing, masking, face/body painting, feasting … techniques that people in widely different cultures have used to generate joy. Why have we got so few [ecstatic rituals] today?

In a nutshell, generalizing over many cultures and times, these sorts of activities have been suppressed by elites — according to class, race, gender — because the [rituals] came to be seen as disruptive, subversive and even dangerous. They were seen as antithetical to the social discipline that came to be expected by mass society.

Class and issues of power are a huge part of this. In the Caribbean in the 19th century, carnival would be a huge part of slaves’ revolts.”

Ms. Erhenreich says of her research:

“I concluded that ecstatic rituals were a cure for depression — you can see that in many cultures. An example of a culture that uses it as a cure is some North Africans — if a woman were to take to her bed and become depressed, family would call in a zar healer who would bring in musicians and healers to engage in days and nights of ecstatic dancing, and soon the woman would get up and join. Some cultures would see this as a cure for melancholy. We do drugs instead, both antidepressants and illegal drugs.

We have never lost the capacity for collective joy. It’s part of our nature. But if you look at how little we get to exercise it … if we compare ourselves to the French in the 14th century, with Saint’s Days and this huge calendar of festivities, we just don’t do it very much, if at all.

This [lack of festivities] represents a triumph of the powerful, and their idea that you have to work all the time. This is a recent [development]. Historically, peasants worked when they had to, when they had to plant or harvest. When they didn’t have to work, they worked on having a good time — planning festivities, costumes, dance steps; great expressions of human creativity.”

When I worked at a women’s shelter, one other staff member and I put together a festival. I was in charge of facepainting, as well as bilingual English/Spanish postcards about the event, put in bodegas around the rural county where we worked.

She got people to translate and sing in Spanish and Russian, there was a farmer’s market, and booths from other nonprofits providing services in the area. We even had music and dancing!

Since we worked at a shelter for survivors of domestic violence, we were used to working hard and being serious. It was such a joy to put together a festival and get people dancing together and draw the community together around this change.

Maybe you’ve experienced this too, when you organized a gala for your nonprofit?

Do you feel like organizing a festival now?

US Scamalot Puppet From Clay and Paper Theater on Flickr

How can progressives use collective joy to help motivate people and promote our causes?

People who are working for change need to think about how to make their events draw on the solidarity and creativity of lots of people together. That’s been happening … but it’s something we need to address. Bringing art and culture into politics is a way to express what we are seeking, what our vision of the world is.

So go dance with your local occupy protest tonight.

Think of some protest songs for your cause.

Make a big puppet and get the word out to your nonprofit supporters.

Let’s shut down a square! Let’s shut down a street! Write with chalk on the sidewalk! Facepainting and balloons for kids! Live music from your local musicians! Let’s make changing the world part of our cultural tradition of Dancing In The Streets, from prehistory to now!

Want to do this NOW?

How to make a really big puppet head
How to make stilt pants
Bread and Puppet Theater in Vermont does this all the time!

Collective Joy = How to Harness the Power of #Occupy for Your Nonprofit Cause originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on February 8, 2012.

You Deserve A Voice. Voting With Your Dollars is Not Enough

Mazarine — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:36:48 +0000

Consumed by Benjamin Barber

Here’s a book that has been blowing my mind lately, and with EVERYTHING ELSE GOING ON I just haven’t blogged about it yet.

Until today.

I’ve written before about what to buy to make sure slaves didn’t make your clothing, or make your food, here. http://www.wildwomanfundraising.com/fabulous-interactive-graph-decide-buy/

And I’ve also written about if you’re a good nonprofiteer or a good consumer. http://www.wildwomanfundraising.com/nonprofiteer-good-consumer/

Sure, I’m a member of a credit union and a coop. I moved my money. I buy local. I shop for American-made clothes on Etsy and in used clothing stores. I use string bags instead of plastic when I remember to bring them.

But so fucking what?

For this, my foremothers fought for equality, for the right to vote? So I could get a fair trade organic box of green tea?

Privatization means that we have a right to get whatever we can on our own, but at the same time lose any real ability to what we have a right to. Like freedom to organize. Freedom to assemble in a public park. Freedom to have healthcare, no matter how poor we are. Freedom to have a social safety net. Freedom to elect a president by popular vote. Freedom to a fair trial, to have a reason for being arrested.

We really have to ask ourselves, so what if our phone company donates to nonprofits if our votes don’t count for anything?

So what if we shop from the rancher at the farmer’s market if we can be detained indefinitely for no reason?

Let’s face it, voting with your dollars can only take us so far.

The following quotes are from Consumed, by Benjamin Barber.

Consumerism is equally dependent on and perhaps addicted to an identity politics that is wrapped up in merchandising, marketing, and above all, branding.

“Branded lifestyles are not merely superficial veneers but have become substitute identities, forms of acquired character that have the potential to go all the way to the core.”

This reminds me of so many stories, so I’ll try to just pick a couple.

My friend R. went to Brazil recently to visit a college friend. She was looking forward to this trip for over two years. And she was finally well enough to take the trip. When she got there, her friend had turned into someone completely obsessed with brands. R’s friend, M, lived in a gated community and everyone had barbed wire on top of their buildings. Favelas were everywhere and R. got in trouble with M. for showing the maid where her favela was with Google Earth. You know, treating the maid like a human being. One night they got held up at gunpoint while the gunman took their fancy bags, phones, credit cards, jewelry. R. asked M, “Aren’t you going to report this?” and M. said, “What would the police do?”

M. just wanted to go shopping all the time, and wanted R. to buy things for her, because supposedly they were a part of the same socio-economic strata. M.s friends wanted to have endless conversations about the top brands, things they had bought, things they wanted to buy, and their new haircolor. R. said it was so boring that she actually played video games just so she wouldn’t have to talk with them. Her social conscience really made it impossible for her to enjoy the trip. But it kind of galvanized her even more to be completely indifferent to brands and to the people who used them in place of their personalities.

“Because commercial identities tend to be simplistic and hetronomous (determined from the outside) as well as associated with celebrity and whim (I wanna be a rock star!) they enforce the infantilist ethos, undermining agency, community, and democracy.” -Pg 167, Consumed, by Benjamin Barber

“There are no global citizens, only global consumers, no global states, only global capitalist firms; no commonweal, only an aggregate of what individuals and nations and consumer markets want, no global cultural or national identities, only the new hollowed out identity conferred by brands.

Brand loyalty instead of personality

There’s a young man I know, 25 years old, who literally is defined solely by his relationship to his favorite brand of car. This, truly, is all he wants to talk about. It’s what defines his personality. And if you’ve ever looked at a website with regrettable tattoos, you’ve surely seen people getting the apple or windows logo, or another brand logo, like Monster Energy Drink, tattooed on various parts of their anatomy.

So honestly, cause marketing, can you honestly say the best way to find a cure for breast cancer is to buy some Campbell’s soup or get a Breast Cancer Visa? Can you stand there with a straight face and say “This TRULY makes a difference?” Or are we going to get too sophisticated for that game this year?

“Cults are a rich and legitimate source of insight for the creation of brand worship. Alongside alternative religions, brands are now serious contenders for belief and communities.”

Naomi Klein writes about brand vision epiphanies: Polaroid, for example, is not a camera but “A Social Lubricant.” Ugh.

Do you work for a park, an elementary school, a high school, or a university?

Parks and schools find it difficult to withstand commercialization as cities and states lose their tax revenues (from giving massive tax cuts to corporations to come to their locales -Mazarine). Corporate research funding for academic science privatizes what is supposed to be public research and allows research results and patents to be sold for private profit.

Apparently these big corporations believe in socialism when it comes to bailouts, but market capitalism when it comes to profits. The beneficiaries of public services (such as Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Chase, Wells Fargo, and various student loan companies) refuse to pay their cost in taxes.

State funding continues to decline and universities increasingly become huge research empires that need continual infusions of cash to sustain bloated administrative costs.

Privatization becomes a condition of academic survival.

Can you believe that? Don’t criticize your corporate overlords from your academic armchair, lest you have that armchair whisked out from under you, and end up on the street. No wonder people I know who teach at universities have gone to teach in Canada. At least there they can voice their opinions.

But what can be done? Well, as you would expect, a nonprofit is already working on it. Several nonprofits, actually. There’s an initiative in the EU called “Beyond GDP” which uses GPI, instead of the GDP. The GPI or Genuine Progress Indicator factors environmental abuse and national debt into the equation. And surprise surprise, Americans spend beyond our ecological means. Click here to check out your ecological footprint. StopCorporateAbuse.org is another nonprofit fighting against corporate greed. And Demos, the institute that Barber works for, believes the answer is global democracy. I’m not sure if that’s it though. What do YOU think?

I’ve said it before but it bears repeating. Freedom to buy is not enough. Voting with your dollars is not enough.

Grown up citizens exercise legitimate collective power and enjoy real public liberty.

Consumers exercise trivial choice and enjoy pretend freedom.

Consumers even when childish have a place in a free society and express one part of what it means to live freely. But they do not and cannot define civil liberty. When they are defined as doing so, free society is put at risk.

Privatization does not just reinforce infantilization, in the realm of politics, it is its realization.

So how do we fight against infantilization? How do we get our global governments to do their jobs again to protect and serve citizens? How do we make America, and to an extent, the world, great again? Do you have any ideas?

You Deserve A Voice. Voting With Your Dollars is Not Enough originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on February 6, 2012.

Abortion. A line in the sand.

Mazarine — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:55:42 +0000

Look what I found

UPDATE: Feb 3, 2012-DUE TO EVERYONE ON THE INTERNET BEING ALL “OH NO YOU DIDN’T!” KOMEN’s HANDEL SAID THEY WOULD FUND EXISTING GRANTS. BUT NOT THAT THEY WOULD CONTINUE TO FUND PLANNED PARENTHOOD.

A Huffpost commenter, Karmabug, said it best:

“I’m sorry, but all I can read is, “We were deeply shaken by the outpouring of support, and most importantly money, to Planned Parenthood and not us. We have reversed our decision for now so you may continue to send money to us and not them. With this money we will continue to exploit women with a serious disease and fund lots of pink things rather than actual research.”

—————————-

Personally, I think it’s ridiculous that we are still having this discussion, 100 years after Margaret Sanger started campaigning.

I don’t always speak out about abortion, but when I do, I Do It Loudly.

My friend, Pamela Grow, wrote an email and sent it out today. She talked about supporting Planned Parenthood.

She got some pretty snippy emails requesting to be taken off her list because of her position on Komen’s new public anti-choice stance. People said she should keep her personal and political views out of her newsletter.

To that I say, “You’re only saying that because you don’t agree with my politics and personal views. If you did, you wouldn’t say anything.”

What is the point of blogging if you can’t share your personal opinion? That’s the whole reason we started blogging, I think?

Let me tell you a secret.

My first story that I ever wrote, when I was 16 years old, was about a girl named Mazarine and her friend Tse Tse going on a roadtrip in a big convertible. And they were going to get Tse Tse an abortion. And then they did. And lived happily ever after. The end.

When I lived in Korea and my significant other wanted to have a debate about abortion and “play devil’s advocate” I got so upset that I broke down in tears. I just could not be with someone who wanted to debate a woman’s right to do what she wanted with her own body.

In high school, I went out with someone who was adopted, and they said they were anti-abortion because if their birth parents had believed in abortion, they wouldn’t be here. I could understand that. They still didn’t think that they had the right to tell any woman what to do with her body though. That takes a special kind of sickness.

Komen Planned Parenthood ECard

So you can imagine how sympathetic I am with Komen right now. Which is to say, not at all. I didn’t like them much before, because of how ubiquitous they were, but now that I’ve heard from Mother Jones that they are GOP funders, I like them even less.

Yesterday I was in line at the post office and casually asked my friend what he thought of the whole debacle. He said, “It’s terrible. Komen should support Planned Parenthood.” And the woman in front of us in line turned around and said, “YES, they should!” And she had been a staunch supporter of Komen. No longer.

So I do what I can. I donate to The Lilith Fund. I volunteer with Planned Parenthood when I can. I used to be an intern in their New York City offices. I believe very much in what they do.

But what do they do, exactly? Well, let’s take a break from anecdote and opinion, and talk facts.

They prevent more abortions than any anti-choice organization.
They give more mammograms, preventing breast cancer, than any breast cancer nonprofit.
They give more physicals to people who have no access to healthcare than any other nonprofit.
They also do STD testing on anyone and it takes 10 minutes and there is no judgemental atmosphere. I have been there with friends and it has all been convivial.

One look at the anti-choice website of, say, this nonprofit, or this media company, shows how they actively seek to prevent women from getting abortions. This is unconscionable.

Kivi Leroux Miller has also talked about this.

What do you think of this whole debacle?

Tell me where you stand.

Want to do something useful?

Sign the MoveOn petition to tell Komen what you think about defunding Planned Parenthood

You can also write, ping on twitter, or call the top Komen corporate funders. one thing we fundraisers know best is if you want to tell a nonprofit you don’t agree with their direction, complain to their funders. Their funders will listen, and look more critically at the decision to fund them.

Tweet for your tweeting: “@yoplaityogurt, I urge you to withdraw your donations from @komenforthecure #istandwithplannedparenthood”

Komen Big corporate sponsors:
* Yoplait @yoplaityogurt
* Bank of America @bofa_help
* Caltrate
* Ford @ford
* New Balance @newbalance
* ReMax @remax
* Self Magazine @selfmagazine
* Walgreens @walgreens
* Zeta Tau Alpha fraternity @ztafraternity
* Georgia-Pacific @georgiapacific

And ALL the rest:

3M
ACH Food Companies: Bake for the Cure
Acushnet – Titleist, Pinnacle and FootJoy Worldwide
Alternative Apparel
American Airlines
American Blue Ribbon Holdings
Anchor Bay Entertainment
Ansell Healthcare Products LLC
Aquage (SalonQuest, LLC)
Arizona AFO
Armouth International
Ask.com
Avcor Healthcare Products, Inc.
Balance Walking by Foot Solutions
Bank of America
BCBG MAXAZRIA and ClearVision Optical
Beemster Cheese
Belk
Berkley Packaging Company, Inc.
BIC USA Inc.
Boar’s Head Provisions Co., Inc.
BoConcept USA, Inc.
Boots Retail USA, Inc
Boston Proper
Boston Warehouse
Bowl for the Cure
Brinker International
Brown Shoe Company
Caché
California Pear Advisory Board
Caltrate
Canari Cyclewear
Candy Coburn – Pink Warrior
Caribou Coffee Company, Inc.
Carlisle Collection, Ltd
Caterpillar
Century Payments
Charlotte Motor Speedway and The Dollar General 300 Miles of Courage
Chasing Fireflies
Chesapeake Bay Candle Co
Citizen Watch Company of America
Clean Ones Corporation
Coldwater Creek
Collegiate Shipping Products, LLC
Corning Life Sciences
Crayola
Dallas Cowboys – I Promise
Dell
Deluxe Checks
Deuce Brand
Dots
DS Waters
Eggland’s Best, Inc.
Emdeon
Energizer
EuroBlooms
Evian
Evite and Postmark
Exercise TV
Exhale Enterprises, Inc.
Fable Designs, Inc
Feld Entertainment’s Disney on Ice presents Treasure Trove and Dare to Dream
Ford Gum
Ford Motor Company
Forever 21
Fragrance Marketing Group
Freed’s Bakery, LLC
FUZE and Honest Tea
Garden State Growers
General Growth Properties
General Mills Pink Together
Georgia-Pacific
Global Filtration
Globe Electric
Goldtouch
Graphique de France
GUESS
GUESS by Marciano
Hallmark Gold Crown Stores
Hampshire Designers
Hand & Nail Harmony
Hanesbrands
Helzberg Diamonds
Hewlett-Packard
Holland America Line
HSN – Shop for the Cure®
HUE
Hunter Boot USA, LLC
Igloo
Inliten
Interfresh, Inc.
IOGEAR
J. Berry Nursery
Jason Aldean
Jersey Mike’s Subs
Kelly Gale Amen Design
Kent International, Inc.
Kentucky Oaks Ladies First
Key Brands International
KeyBank Foundation
King’s Hawaiian Bakery West, Inc.
KitchenAid
Kobian USA, Inc.
Koch Filter Corporation
Koi Design
Kyocera
La Madeleine
LaCroix Sparkling Water
Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA)
Liberty Mutual
LIFE Event-The Val Skinner Foundation
Louisville Stoneware
Lowe’s Companies, Inc
LPGA Golf Clinics for Women
Magaschoni
Major League Baseball
McAlister’s Deli
MD Jockey Club – Preakness
MegaGoods, Inc.
Merck Consumer Care
Meredith Corporation
Microsoft
Mobile Edge
Mohawk Flooring – Decorate for the Cure
Mottega
Mrs. Baird’s Bakeries
Napa Valley Naturals
Nature’s Flowers
NBC Today Show
Nestle Purina PetCare Company
New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.
New Global Charities
NKOTB
Nordstrom
North American Licensing Company
Not Your Daughter’s Jeans
Nuun
Oil Can Henry’s
Old Navy
Omaha Steaks
On The Border – Fiesta for the Cure™
Opal Orthodontics by Ultradent
OPI
Oracle Giving Commitment Grant
Oreck
Oregon Cherry Growers, Inc.
Oriental Trading Company
Otis Spunkmeyer, Inc.
Palmer’s
Pandora Jewelry
Paris Accessories, Inc (MMG Corporation)
Payless ShoeSource
Pepperidge Farm
Philips Consumer Lifestyle
Pink Ribbon Produce
PNY
Pottery Barn Kids
Premium Outlets
Pretzel Crisps
Princess Cruises Community Foundation
Prolacta Bioscience
Provide Commerce
Rally for the Cure®
Redken
REMAX
RiceSelect
Rich Products Corporation
Robinson Home Products
Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc.
Samsung Electronics Europe
Santa Barbara Design Studio and Designs by Lolita
Sarah Fisher Racing
Savvi Formalwear
SELF Magazine
ShoeDazzle
Shoutback Concepts – Deals for the Cure
Shuman Produce, Inc.
Simon Malls
SodaStream
Specialized Bicycle Components
Springs Global
Stanley Black & Decker
Stein Mart
Stylemark, Inc.
Sy Kessler Sales, Inc.
Teasdale Quality Foods
Testing
The Hillman Group
The Mohawk Group – Specify for a Cure
The Republic of Tea
TPR Holdings LLC
Trident Seafoods Corporation
True Religion Brand Jeans
Tubbs Romp to Stomp Snowshoe Series
U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation
Verbatim
Wacoal America
Walgreens
Wells Lamont
Woman Within
Yoplait USA
Young Dental
Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity
Zumba Fitness

You don’t have to agree with me about abortion. But since this is my blog, I will let you know that overtly hateful comments will be removed. You win some, you lose some.

Abortion. A line in the sand. originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on February 2, 2012.

Stephanie Strom’s take on Nonprofits

Mazarine — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:27:53 +0000

Remember last week when I was all “Save the Nonprofits!” Well, turns out I didn’t even know the whole story.

We’re more screwed than I knew!
Here’s more.

Nonprofit Quarterly reports on the Michigan State Charitable deduction going away.

Tony Martignetti just told me about Stephanie Strom, who is the reporter on Philanthropy for the New York Times.

Hawaii tried to levy a 1% tax on nonprofits in 2010 and failed, but now

California is trying to get more property taxes from nonprofits. And they are, in fact, succeeding.

Do you work at a nonprofit hospital?
The IRS MIGHT look into how much charity you actually do a bit more closely.

Also, nonprofit management wonks, philanthropists are now requiring management courses before they give money to nonprofits.

So if you’ve ever had a bad boss at a nonprofit, or wished there were an HR person, this just might be the trend that helps you get through that next day!

Philanthropists start requiring MANAGEMENT courses to keep nonprofits productive.

Actually this is the one bright spot in all of the research I’ve done today.

Have you heard any good news about nonprofits lately?

Stephanie Strom’s take on Nonprofits originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on January 24, 2012.

Should The Times Be a Truth Vigilante? Should the Pope Be Catholic?

Mazarine — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:35:12 +0000

Recently, a New York Times editor Arthur Brisbane wrote,

“I’m looking for reader input on whether and when New York Times news reporters should challenge “facts” that are asserted by newsmakers they write about.”

Dear Mr. Brisbane,

“I’m looking for reader input on whether you have lost your balls and where they might be found, if so.”

WHAT IS BEING A JOURNALIST ALL ABOUT?

ARE YOU INSANE?

ARE YOU ASKING US WHETHER OR NOT YOU SHOULD REPORT THE TRUTH, OR JUST PRETEND TO?

WTF New York Times?

DO YOU ALL HAVE JOURNALISM DEGREES OR NOT?

Did you go to fashion school instead of journalism school?

What, is it just UNFASHIONABLE to tell the truth now, so why bother?

Should the Times be a Truth Vigilante?

A Vigilante? What do you even mean by that? How about a Truth Teller, or the more old-fashioned term, Journalist? What is more important than telling the truth with the USA’s biggest newspaper, if you have the chance to? What is more important than that? What is more important than telling people they are being lied to, and what to do about it? What is more important than standing up and saying, “This is not right, and we do not agree” with the “newsmakers” you write about?
Do you know what one very brave journalist named Chris Hedges is doing right now?

He is suing the pants off of Barack Obama for daring to detain American Citizens for no reason, because that just happens to be unconstitutional. That’s right. He’s not just being a journalist, he’s being an activist. He’s doing on our behalf. The New York Times might want to stand with a fellow journalist at this time. They might want to applaud the guts that he has and do their best to keep this issue in the forefront of the newspaper reporting.

Chris Hedges writes on TruthDig.org: “This demented “war on terror” is as undefined and vague as such a conflict is in any totalitarian state.

Dissent is increasingly equated in this country with treason.

Enemies supposedly lurk in every organization that does not chant the patriotic mantras provided to it by the state. And this bill feeds a mounting state paranoia. It expands our permanent war to every spot on the globe. It erases fundamental constitutional liberties.

It means we can no longer use the word “democracy” to describe our political system.

The supine and gutless Democratic Party, which would have feigned outrage if George W. Bush had put this into law, appears willing, once again, to grant Obama a pass. But I won’t.

What he has done is unforgivable, unconstitutional and exceedingly dangerous. The threat and reach of al-Qaida—which I spent a year covering for The New York Times in Europe and the Middle East—are marginal, despite the attacks of 9/11. The terrorist group poses no existential threat to the nation. It has been so disrupted and broken that it can barely function. Osama bin Laden was gunned down by commandos and his body dumped into the sea. Even the Pentagon says the organization is crippled.

So why, a decade after the start of the so-called war on terror, do these draconian measures need to be implemented? Why do U.S. citizens now need to be specifically singled out for military detention and denial of due process when under the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force the president can apparently find the legal cover to serve as judge, jury and executioner to assassinate U.S. citizens, as he did in the killing of the cleric Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen? Why is this bill necessary when the government routinely ignores our Fifth Amendment rights—“No person shall be deprived of life without due process of law”—as well as our First Amendment right of free speech? How much more power do they need to fight “terrorism”?

Fear is the psychological weapon of choice for totalitarian systems of power.

Make the people afraid. Get them to surrender their rights in the name of national security. And then finish off the few who aren’t afraid enough.

If this law is not revoked we will be no different from any sordid military dictatorship.

Its implementation will be a huge leap forward for the corporate oligarchs who plan to continue to plunder the nation and use state and military security to cow the population into submission.”

WHAT is the point of having a newspaper if you are asking your readers whether or not you should tell the truth?

What kind of spineless, gutless newspaper are you running?

Are you just trolling for comments?

WHAT GIVES?!

Are you basically saying that you are going to become a mouthpiece for the government in a country known for freedom, liberty, equality and justice? Oh, the irony!

Might as well rename The New York Times “Government Pamphlet #1444″ and be done with it Mr. Brisbane!

And if you want some balls, I have extras.

Should The Times Be a Truth Vigilante? Should the Pope Be Catholic? originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on January 18, 2012.

Your Nonprofit is in Trouble. How? Read on.

Mazarine — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:31:50 +0000

Yesterday I wrote about inequality being the thing that holds nonprofits back. how we need better wages for every not for profit worker. And I just found out that The Atlantic agrees that inequality causes a host of issues, including bad education for our children, and that we should adopt the Finnish model of everyone getting the same chance, no tution, and no more private schools.

But since we don’t have that, why else are we in trouble?

Well, aside from the Great Depression 2.0,

Aside from Corporations taking over art’s right to dissent from The Free Free School:

“Corporations who refuse to pay £billions in taxes are fêted for their relatively paltry largess and are awarded privileged access to events and policymaking. Donations no longer fit within notions of ‘patronage’ or ‘philanthropy’ but are strategically targeted blue chip branding exercises. This is part of a much bigger drive towards the marketisation of the arts and the privatisation of cultural provision and public space.”

Your nonprofit could start have to pay taxes and pay for a number of things. Such as sewage, water costs, property taxes, and finally, on any money that you bring in.

Think I’m kidding?

So first, in 2010, we had “Attack of the Tax Exemption Killers from Blue Avocado”

Then in May 2011, from the Wall Street Journal Online: Strapped City Chicago asks nonprofits to pay sewage, water costs

From MetroTrends.org: Oh, also nonprofits asked to pay Property Taxes

From the Nonprofit Quarterly: Occupy the Charitable Tax Deduction?

Then in January 2012, from the NonprofitQuarterly: New Benefit Corps are a message to nonprofits?

Drew McManus talks about why most discussions about new nonprofit models are dead ends.

And Pamela Grow points me to a new tax on retirement income in Michigan! And they PASSED IT! So that tiny $200 social security check that you’ll get at age 65 to live on? Now THAT will be taxed too, so you’ll probably get $150 or something. Who can live on $200 a month, let alone $150 a month in America anymore?

I’ve been talking with Gene Takagi of Nonprofit Law Blog and he says:

“Well, cities are strapped for cash, so you must expect them to start looking to nonprofits for more revenue.”

ORLY?

See, here’s the thing. Pardon the caps.

WHY NOT ACTUALLY CHARGE BIG CORPORATIONS WHO HAVE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS THE TAXES THEY HAVE AVOIDED INSTEAD OF ASKING ALREADY CASH STRAPPED NONPROFITS TO PAY?

The idea that nonprofits should pay taxes is a red herring.

There’s money all around us. It’s just being held by the biggest corporations. Why should nonprofits have to pay the price of bad corporate tax laws on the part of cities/counties and states?

Maybe we have to ask ourselves, is it because we are not speaking up in defense of the sector?

Is it because we are not so hot at advocacy?

COULD we partner more to get better results?

Gene suggested on Twitter that nonprofits could train boards to advocate. But I don’t think that’s good enough. And apparently, neither did John Hardie, @PocoJuan on Twitter. See our convo below.

Commentary from @pocojuan on Twitter

Is there some way nonprofit associations in each state could spearhead this effort to protect the charitable tax deduction, like TANO is doing here in Texas?

Well?

What do you think?

If your nonprofit is part of a nonprofit association, why not ask them what they’re doing about this issue? Ask them what they’re doing to protect YOUR nonprofit?

And @PocoJuan had more to say:

PocoJuan on Twitter

What do YOU think? What do YOU have to say?

Is the answer getting your board to advocate?

Is it getting your association to advocate on your behalf?

Is the answer hiring a lobbying firm?

Is the answer starting a petition?

What can YOU DO right NOW?

Your Nonprofit is in Trouble. How? Read on. originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on January 17, 2012.

This is not a pity party. You understand?

Mazarine — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:13:07 +0000

Wow, hello hate mail!

Because of my posts about being a nonprofit wage slave, and being unable to make rent on a nonprofit “salary”, someone took issue with this. Actually, more than one person did, and I’m glad about it. I got a reader email saying,

“I HATE YOUR PITY PARTY! IF YOU DON’T LIKE HOW YOU’RE PAID IN NONPROFITS THEN GET OUT!”

And some other, less choice words.

And well, shoot man.

What are people who want to change the world supposed to do? Some of us are best suited to being social workers. Some of us are best suited to being therapists. Some of us are best suited to being bus drivers or nonprofit office managers. We still deserve a higher wage. I will show you why.

Here’s my question for you.

Why should people in the nonprofit sector make less than every other sector?

Rick Cohen on Blue Avocado says, “It’s official, we’re paid less than any other sector.”

Proof:

And it's not like we're going to get paid significantly more in other sectors.

The fact is man, wages haven’t risen since the 1970s in most sectors.

Proof:

More Proof:

That means MOST people, not just nonprofits, are getting the short end of the stick. Especially women. Especially women of color. So even if we “get out of the sector” it is not much better out there than in here.

And people from every economic strata, such as doctors, nurses, air traffic controllers, hotel maids, pepsi truck drivers, are getting shafted. Here’s a post I did about how no sector is safe. Using data and detailed economic research and in-depth investigative journalism from Mother Jones. One of the top progressive nonprofit news sources in the US.

Starting your own business is not the answer.

You ended with a “start your own business” rant and frankly, that’s not a reality for most people. We shouldn’t have to start our own businesses to make a living wage. Not everyone is suited to being an entrepreneur.

America is also not one of the best places to start a business, contrary to popular myth. The best places? New Zealand. Canada. Australia. According to DoingBusiness.com, the US is ranked 13th in ease of starting a business.

Maybe next time you criticize someone wanting to help people get paid more, you should do your own research into this issue. It’s easy for you, as an english-speaking white man with a cushy job at a foundation in America with many resources to get started as an entrepreneur.

Have you ever stopped to consider what the barriers are for a black woman with two kids? A single mom of any color? What about a black man coming out of the judicial system? What about a hispanic man who may not speak English?

Income equality will help EVERYONE’s standard of living rise. And that IS worth fighting for.

We need to speak for those who need our support to get pay parity. Income equality. Equal treatment no matter what the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, how long they’ve been unemployed, or how many children they have or are planning to have. Maybe you’ve never experienced this discrimination personally, but let me tell you, it’s out there.

The Spirit Level Book (a must read!)

In a truly equal society, as argued in “The Spirit Level, Why Equality is Better for Everyone,” by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, say:

Since we finished writing The Spirit Level in the spring of 2008, there have been many more studies reporting relationships between inequality and health. Nine of the new studies look specifically at rich, developed countries. Seven find, as we do, that health is worse in more unequal societies.

AND

“There is now evidence that inequality played a central causal role in the financial crashes of 1929 and of 2008. We suggested that inequality leads to increases in debt. It turns out that they are intimately related.” For more details, check out this article.

So if you think that it doesn’t matter that people at nonprofits don’t make enough money, then you’re basically saying that you don’t care that people who want to make the world better are less healthy, and that we have more giant financial crashes.

From the same article above:

“In his first major speech as leader of the Labour Party (in the UK), Ed Miliband said: “I do believe this country is too unequal and the gap between rich and poor doesn’t just harm the poor, it harms us all . . .”"

Let me just clarify this once and for all.

THIS IS NOT A PITY PARTY.

I’m here to call attention to disparities. I’m here to be a cultural critic. I’m here to help people think about how they want to change their worlds, their nonprofits, their lives.

My prescription for positive change? Unionize. Organize. Get clear about what you want to change and then change it. I’m not going to change it for you. But I’m not going to pretend that business as usual is just fine with me.

Wake up man! This is NOT a meritocracy.

And this is not a pity party. This is a call to action.

Do you understand me now?

You can tell the pioneers, because they’re the ones with arrows all over their chests.

I’m happy to stand beside Dan Pallotta, a white man who writes for the Harvard Business Review, and author of “Uncharitable” and agitate for a stronger nonprofit sector, to agitate for everyone who is getting underpaid at nonprofits right now. To agitate for better pay and better treatment for everyone. If that means unions, then so be it. If there’s another way, I’d be open to hearing what it is.

I’m happy to speak up. And I hope if you feel the same way, you’ll leave a comment, email me, or say hi on Twitter.

This is not a pity party. You understand? originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on January 16, 2012.

Do you want to sit on a nonprofit board?

Mazarine — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:47:31 +0000

If yes, then click on through to BoardNet.
http://www.boardnetusa.org/public/home.asp

If you need a little more WHY:

Why would you want to sit on a nonprofit board?

Because you believe in the mission. But also, it’s a good way to move on up in your nonprofit career. Have you ever known an executive director who previously sat on your nonprofit board? This seems to happen quite a lot. Two nonprofits I’ve worked for had this happen. You can probably name a few, yourself.

What does sitting on a board entail?

It entails making sure your executive director is not stealing money with the nonprofit credit card. And then, if they are caught, it entails firing them.

Oh, no, they didn’t do it by accident. Because if they tell you that, and you let them stay, THEY WILL DO IT AGAIN, and STEAL EVEN MORE.
But seriously though.

I am being serious. That just happened to a nonprofit I used to work for.

As a board member, you are fiscally responsible for the nonprofit organization. So, if it goes belly up and can’t pay its bills, YOU are left holding the bag. So, don’t take this lightly. Also, you should learn how to fundraise and teach your fellow board members how to do it, so that you don’t have to worry about this happening.

What if I don’t want to fundraise?
Everyone can do something. Maybe you can stuff envelopes. Call people to say thank you for giving a gift. Research grants. Advocate for more funds at the government level. I have a comprehensive checklist and quiz that goes into detail about how you can help your board members fundraise here.

What else?

You need to give to this nonprofit, so that you can convince other people you know to give. That will be more convincing. Also, it should be in the bylaws that you need to give.

Ugh, really?

Yeah. But if you don’t believe in the mission, then why are you on the board anyway?

What about the board meetings?

Those are going to be once a month, probably. 2 hours of your time. Take this time to get to know staff better. Let them know you’re there to help. Ask what you can do. Be realistic about what you can accomplish with a certain timeframe. If a board report is not making sense to you, ask to have it explained. Your other board members will secretly thank you.

Committees?

Yes, you’ll probably be asked to sit on a committee too. There’s the marketing/communications committee, the fundraising/gala committee, the executive committee, the website committee, the strategic planning committee, the finance committee, etc. One thing I’ve learned from sitting on nonprofit boards is that if I do fundraising for my job all day, I’m kind of burnt out on doing it for other people for free after I get off work. So even if you’re an accountant, maybe you don’t want to do it for free for this nonprofit. Say so up front, if so. However, this does lead to people who aren’t terribly skilled in the committee focus being on this committee. Nobody said being on a board was easy. But it can help you be seen in more leadership roles, create the right relationships to get you that development director or executive director position. Click the link at the top of this post to see what board positions are available at nonprofits near you.

If you like this post, check out
“Are You Pressuring Your Board?” by Alexandra Peters

Do you want to sit on a nonprofit board? originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on January 11, 2012.

A response to “Bad Nonprofit Consultants” from Inside Philanthropy

Mazarine — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:39:39 +0000

Todd Cohen, editor of the Philanthropy Journal, wrote a blog post on how bad nonprofit consultants can be.

He writes:

“Often exiles from nonprofits because they were ineffective, burned out or just wanted a bigger paycheck, bad consultants can drain nonprofits’ limited funding in return for simplistic advice masquerading as strategic thinking.

Many who could not cut it as nonprofit professionals turn to consulting because they spot easy prey in nonprofits desperate for strategic advice.” . . .

What these consultants are selling is blind faith in their image and self-confidence. But after paying the fees, many nonprofits are left with little more than a consultant’s promise that cosmetic and formulaic changes will improve their organizations.

Nonprofits buy what mediocre consultants are selling because, strained to the breaking point in our damaged economy, and struggling to make ends meet in the face of rising demand for services and of shrinking resources, they need help and want to believe the consultants can provide it.”

—————————————————

Ouch! Obviously Todd has talked with nonprofits who have been burned by consultants who didn’t really help them or deliver on what they promised to deliver.

Here’s my response.
————————————-

Dear Todd,

I appreciate you bringing up the fact that we have to vet nonprofit consultants more carefully.

And I agree, a nonprofit should be wary of general strategists simply because no one consultant can be an expert on strategy for every type of nonprofit. I’d be more inclined to trust a consultant who specialized in, say, K-12 educational strategy than someone who said they provided general nonprofit strategy.

In my own consulting practice, I don’t give simplistic advice or offer empty strategy. I wrote a book called The Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising and I teach webinars offering step by step guides on how to do various tasks, including finding sponsorships, finding grants, and putting out direct mail pieces.

There may not be regulations on consultants, but I do my best to be transparent, which means I disclose exactly how much I’ve personally raised with the methods above.

I don’t just rely on my own experience. I read books, go to conferences, attend trainings, and research online and look at the best examples I can find in the field before offering advice to nonprofits. I’m always learning, always trying to provide more value for nonprofits.

I think the best consultants can offer nonprofits the gift of shortcuts and best writing samples, at the very least, if they are focused on hands-on, how-to instruction.

When it comes to successful fundraising or strategy, you forget that you need a trained and motivated board, a dynamic leadership, and an engaged community. Probably most nonprofits don’t have these, which is why they come to a consultant in the first place.

People need to take responsibility for the situation they created, not blame the consultant for not giving them a quick fix.

One consultant alone cannot overcome the fact that no one on the board has ties to a foundation.
One consultant cannot transfer 10 relationships with corporations to a nonprofit to get those sponsorships.
One consultant cannot overcome a 5 year lapse in sending appeals with the first appeal.
One consultant cannot overcome the lack of any development staff to carry on the work once they leave.

You talk about nonprofit consultants not taking responsibility for their actions. I’m not trying to pass the buck here. I’m trying to talk about what can realistically be accomplished with the assistance of a nonprofit consultant.

Rather than expecting the consultant to solve all organizational problems in the space of a week or a month, why not just help the consultant train the ED or other development staff to write a better appeal letter, or how to do speaking engagements more effectively?

Or if you think the consultant is still too removed, what about creating contracts where the consultant works together with the nonprofit, checks in with them over a period of 6 months to 1 year, to help them tweak their fundraising and development?

What do YOU think of these solutions?

Are you looking for a nonprofit consultant?

What has worked best for you in terms of hiring someone to help your nonprofit, from the outside?

If you are a nonprofit consultant, have you ever felt like people expected you to overcome too much?

How did you deal with managing expectations?

Please share your experience in the comments.

A response to “Bad Nonprofit Consultants” from Inside Philanthropy originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on January 9, 2012.

Is your nonprofit career in danger?

Mazarine — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:24:46 +0000

Fact: Your job can be a wonderful place, but over 65% of Americans do not like their jobs. Even if you think you can just keep your head down and work hard to get promoted, only 33% of nonprofit executive level positions are filled from within. Even if you have passion for the mission, it’s not enough to keep you from getting the short end of the stick with your nonprofit salary.

It gets worse. You live on credit, because you can’t save on your tiny nonprofit salary. Your boss expects you to dress like you make $100,000 more than you actually do. You know that most nonprofit fundraisers will stay in a job from 12 to 18 months. Until they leave, voluntarily or otherwise. With at-will employment, if your boss asks you to work over the weekend,what are you going to say, No?

Your boss can fire you on a whim, without any reason at all. And even if it’s totally unfair, there’s nothing you can say, because you signed the at-will employment contract. So there goes your paycheck, your rent money and food money. There goes all those long hours, down the drain. You slaved away, made them hundreds of thousands or even millions, and now you’re out. There goes your career. Who wants to hire someone who has been fired? What can you do about this?

Are you looking for a nonprofit job?

Have you been looking for months, going from coffeeshop to career counselor to alumni groups, trying to find a way into a job?

Or if you are employed, are you unsure about the next steps in your nonprofit career?

Do you want to be paid more? Do you feel stuck where you are?

Solution:

Click Here to take my January 18th webinar on Moving On Up In Your Nonprofit Career, which answers:

How can you never miss a job posting, ever again?
How can you create a compelling cover letter that gets results?
How can you relate unrelated experience on your resume?
How to ask good interview questions to find out if your boss will be a bully, or if they have unrealistic expectations for your position?
How to talk about your accomplishments without bragging?
How to answer the tough interview questions?As well as interview questions you don’t have to answer
What is successful followup etiquette?
How can you dominate LinkedIn and really work your profile?
What are some of the best ways to step into leadership roles at nonprofits?
How can you deal with new fundraising job overwhelm AND get it all done?
What are the three conversations you MUST have with your boss to be successful?
How can you gather a team of people around you to help you achieve your goals?
How can you successfully negotiate for a higher nonprofit salary?
How to get recognition for your accomplishments?
How do you show people your value as a leader?
How can you get more responsibility and learning opportunities at your job?
BONUS: Real Case Studies of how different nonprofit professionals moved on up in their careers in the last 2-3 years.

Intrigued? Click here to Sign up now!

The following 7 bonus materials are included with this webinar:

Worksheet to help you really shine in your interview
Sample Cover Letter that really works!
Sample 3 month review for you to show your progress to your boss, what to track, what not to track.
Cheat-sheet of good questions to take to your next interview
Linkedin Profile Checklist
A full list of national and international websites where you can find nonprofit jobs
E-Article: Getting that Fundraising Job & You’ve Got the Job, Now What?

It’s hard out there. Many people just say “Stick with it! You’ll be rewarded!” But according to the Bridgespan Group, most nonprofit staff are NOT being groomed for leadership, and only 33% of the time do people from inside the nonprofit even attempt to fill senior leadership level positions. That means most of the time, you will have to make a leap to another nonprofit to move on up.

In this hands-on, how-to webinar, you will get advice and materials that are easy to use and created especially for you, the busy fundraising professional who barely has time to eat lunch, let alone search for a new job. I make it easy for you to succeed in your new position or in your search.

Let this webinar show you the right way to secure an early win. This webinar provides sound advice on must-do tasks for your first days on the job, and guides you every step of the way through the interview, as well as assisting you through your first meetings with your new boss. Whether you’re looking to make that next lateral move for a fundraising job, or you simply want to communicate better with your boss and co-workers, this webinar will help you.

Have you been offered some position and are you trying to convince yourself you want that nonprofit job? Remember this adage “If you can take it or leave it you should leave it. Make room for something new and magical to take its place”

Step-By-Step Live Demonstration: During this webinar, we will go through how to set up RSS feeds for jobs in real-time, learn how to talk about your accomplishments with real-life examples, how to show your accomplishments when your measurements can’t be dollars raised, and go over key conversations you need to have with your boss step by step.

February 29th, 1:00-2:30pm EST, you can get started moving on up in 2012, to make this your best year, careerwise! Join me.

Why should you learn from me?

Because: Not only am I the author of The Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising, I have connected nonprofit jobseekers and employers for over five years, and I have:

Directed successful nonprofit career fairs
Looked at thousands of resumes
Coordinated a successful nonprofit job club in 2010
Connected jobseekers with career speakers in a variety of industries
Facilitated client job searches resulting in successful jobs in nonprofit and government
Raised millions for nonprofits
Moved on up from Development Assistant to Development Director and Development Consultant.

Click Here to Join Me on January 18th. I’ll be giving away more secrets than I’ve ever given away before, even in my book!

Is your nonprofit career in danger? originally appeared on Wild Woman Fundraising on January 6, 2012.