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NONPROFIT AF

Exploring the fun and frustrations of nonprofit work


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WE MUST PRIORITIZE NONPROFIT LEADERS’ REST AND HEALING, AND HERE ARE SOME COOL
FUNDERS DOING THAT

Posted on October 23, 2022October 24, 2022 by Vu
[Image description: An empty rowboat on calm water. The water reflects the
beautiful warm colors of a sunrise or sunset. In the distance there is a small
house standing on stilts. Image by Quang Le on Pixabay]

Hi everyone, it’s almost Halloween, and the NonprofitAF Scary Story Contest
closes this Thursday! Write (or record) and submit a story of up to 250 words,
by 11:59pm on 10/27. 10 winners will have their stories published here next
week. If you need inspiration, here are some stories; beware, they are very
scary (one involves someone who REMOVES Oxford Commas!)

I know I criticize our sector a lot (and more is coming!). But there are amazing
things going on, and I am really grateful for the organizations and leaders who
are doing awesome stuff. Recently in my state, the Washington Women’s Foundation
released a grant to provide a $100,000-grant each to 10 Black women working in
nonprofit in Washington State, with the expressed purpose of funding their rest
and renewal. This is mind-blowing! The approach is thoughtful, recognizing the
burdens Black women have carried in our sector and trusting Black women to know
what’s best for themselves.

Continue reading “We must prioritize nonprofit leaders’ rest and healing, and
here are some cool funders doing that”
Posted in leadership, nonprofit field, Race, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion,
self-care3 Comments


ADVICE FOR WHITE ALLIES GOING THROUGH EXISTENTIAL CRISES WHILE DOING DEI WORK

Posted on October 16, 2022October 16, 2022 by Vu
[Image description: A single barren tree, standing on a green hill, overlooking
a sunrise or sunset. Image by jplenio on Pixabay]

Hi everyone, if you haven’t registered for the free webinar “Where Has All the
Money Gone?” on October 19th at 1pm Pacific, please do so; it’s an important
discussion. Also, on October 28th at 10:30am, I am giving a virtual keynote “A
Better Normal: Reimagining Nonprofit and Philanthropy.” It’s FREE, thanks to
ONEplace at Kalamazoo Public Library, but there is a cap on the number of
attendees so please sign-up right away. Both events will have captions.

🎃 👻 🎃 Meanwhile, it’s been a long time since we’ve had a contest, so I’m
announcing the Nonprofit Scary Story Contest! Write (or record) and submit a
story of up to 250 words, by 10/27. 10 winners will have their stories published
here on Halloween, as well as receive a package of assorted NonprofitAF swag. If
you need inspiration, here are some terrifying stories. 🎃 👻 🎃

A while ago, a mid-age white male colleague emailed me asking to meet over
lunch, and I said yes, because I used to never turn down free vegan food (and I
still don’t!). He asked me to connect him with young professionals that he could
mentor. “I’ve been learning about DEI. I just want to be helpful, especially to
younger leaders of color. I’ll do it for free.” I sat with him, trying to find a
way to gently let him know that few, if any, leaders of color would take up his
offer to mentor them. Not that white colleagues can’t ever mentor people of
color (some of my mentors are white), but the young leaders I knew would not go
for it.

Continue reading “Advice for white allies going through existential crises while
doing DEI work”
Posted in Race, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion8 Comments


KEEPING THE FIRE LIT: REFLECTIONS FROM MY TRIP TO AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND

Posted on October 10, 2022October 16, 2022 by Vu
[Image description: Driftwood on a beach in Aotearoa New Zealand. Foam block
letters attached to the wood spell out “DO GOOD.” In the background is the ocean
and a lot of clouds. I took this picture with my phone.]

Hi everyone, this post may be rambly not not very deep due to my travel-induced
exhaustion, so apologies in advance. But first, October 10th of this week is
Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the US, and we should all be reminded that less than
half a cent of every dollar in philanthropy goes to Indigenous-led
organizations. So to all those funders out there who are releasing statements
about this day, please give more money to Indigenous communities. Everyone else,
donate to Indigenous-led orgs and mutual assistance efforts and read this
article by an Indigenous colleague for more actions you can take.

I just came back from a whirlwind speaking trip to Pueblo Colorado, Halifax
Canada, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Monterey California. It’s been three weeks on
the road and I finally just got home. It’s the longest I’ve been away from my
kids, and I had some irrational fear that they wouldn’t recognize me, and they’d
be weirdly formal when I got back and be all like, “Hello, Father. Would you
care for some crumpets?” I don’t know why they’re British in this scenario.
Luckily that did not happen; they just hugged me and immediately asked for
presents.   

Continue reading “Keeping the fire lit: Reflections from my trip to Aotearoa New
Zealand”
Posted in Community Engagement, Community organizing, Personal, US Culture16
Comments


LET’S GEAR UP FOR THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS AND SAVE DEMOCRACY!

Posted on October 2, 2022October 2, 2022 by Vu
[Image description: A crowd of people holding various signs, including “We
demand voting rights now!” Caption from Unseen Histories on Unsplash: “Marchers
with signs at the March on Washington, 1963. Original black and white negative
by Marion S. Trikosko. Taken August 28th, 1963, Washington D.C, United States
(@libraryofcongress). Colorized by Jordan J. Lloyd. Library of Congress Prints
and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA
https://www.loc.gov/item/2013648849/”]

Hi everyone, I am in Aotearoa (New Zealand), and embarrassingly forgot to bring
an adapter for my laptop charger, and the hotel doesn’t have one, so I have
about 1.5 hours of power and this blog post will likely be short and full of
typos. I’ve been learning so much from my experience here and will do a proper
reflection for a future post.

Before we get into today’s topic, though, a couple of announcements. Please join
me, Susannah Morgan, Ray Madoff, and Chuck Collins on October 19th at 1pm
Pacific for a webinar on Donor-Advised Funds, how they’ve been used to hoard
money, and what we need to do about it. It’s free, and will be captioned.
Register here.

Also, please fill out Building Movement Project’s Race to Lead Survey 2022. It
is a bit long, but this survey provides vital information about our sector, and
the more of us fill it out, the more accurate and useful the data will be. Thank
you in advance.

Aotearoa has been amazing. The people here are wonderful and kind, and it is
spring here, so the flowers are blooming everywhere. It almost makes me forget
(or want to forget) that back in the United States, we are getting ready for
probably the most consequential mid-term elections of our lives.

Continue reading “Let’s gear up for the midterm elections and save democracy!”
Posted in Policy and Advocacy, Race, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion3 Comments


THE PERSONAL INTEGRITY PARADOX AND HOW IT AFFECTS OUR SECTOR

Posted on September 25, 2022September 25, 2022 by Vu
[Image description: A cute little light brown mouse, peeking out from a crack
between some light brown rocks, staring straight at the camera. Image by Image
by RolandKuck on Pixabay]

Hi everyone. My plane is boarding for Aotearoa, so apologies for any errors or
clumsy wording in this post.

When I was in high school, I took AP Psychology. A few weeks into the class, my
teacher, Mr. Henderson, approached me to ask how I was doing in class. I said I
didn’t think I was doing OK, that I was nervous about the AP exam, and that I
was afraid I would fail it. He then told me that we would be learning about the
Dunning-Kruger effect (DKE) and gave me a brief synopsis. (I did end up passing
the exam with a 5, and Mr. Henderson, with his mustache, piercing insights, and
gentle sense of humor would end up becoming one of the most important mentors in
my life; he advised me that a career in psychology may not pay very well, so I
took his words to heart and went into the lucrative field of nonprofit.)

The Dunning-Kruger effect is basically this (though I’m paraphrasing a bit):
People with lower skills, knowledge, and expertise tend to overestimate
themselves, while those who are more skilled, knowledgeable, etc., tend to
underestimate themselves. Some of this is hypothesized to be because incompetent
people may be too incompetent to recognize that they are incompetent, while
competent people are competent enough to realize they may not yet know
everything and still need to learn and improve.

Continue reading “The Personal Integrity Paradox and how it affects our sector”
Posted in leadership, nonprofit field, philanthropy, Race, Equity, Diversity,
Inclusion5 Comments


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