For the past 20 years, funders have encouraged nonprofits to focus on growth and scalability. These were understood to be the keys to sustainability and impact. But what if that was wrong?
It’s time for nonprofits, especially those serving vulnerable communities, to see themselves as part of the resistance and to retool for that reality. It’s time to build small, deep, loosely networked communities of service as a way of:
- Safeguarding vulnerable communities
- Mitigating legal risk
- Building a different kind of sustainability and impact
What does fundraising look like?
- It looks like cultivating genuine, long-term relationships built on values and mission
- It is a quiet, principled, sustained support that doesn’t require effusive and public thanks
- It is a practice that realizes that others in the space are allies, not competitors.
What does impact data look like?
- It is anonymized
- It is right-sized
- It shows complexity and interdependence.
It’s high time for funders to recognize this new reality and invest in the success of this “nonprofit as resistance” model.
For upwards of ten years, funders have asked nonprofits, and certainly the vulnerable populations they serve, to be resourceful, resilient, and develop grit. Now, before it’s too late, funders, it’s your turn to show us what you’ve got.
microveldt 