Progressive Charities and Fighting Despair

What exactly are we supposed to do?  And how do non-profits fit into it?

There have been many days that I considered writing this post.  Apparently, Texas’ two latest blows against the autonomy of women and voting rights were enough, especially when cast against a backdrop of a pandemic and displacement around the globe from war and climate-caused disasters.  Horrendous injustice and suffering are not new, of course. The dominant forces in this country have always actively fought to disenfranchise and inflict cruelty upon women and people of color.  

But I’d argue that the way we experience these tragedies is new.  Technology may have increased our capacity to solve problems.  But that increase is exponentially outpaced by the increase in our awareness of the full extent of misfortune.  Even when we manage to put our phone down and try to enjoy the relative privilege of our lives, it still rattles against our table, reminding us of its portal back to a situation that feels hopeless.

The answer to the questions at the top?  I have no idea, truly.  I default to pessimism, which may have a high degree of accuracy but is not always constructive when it comes to pushing the rock back up the hill.  

Still, if you think you know what to do and you want to leverage the non-profit sector to push back against these developments, I can at least offer a few thoughts on some tools to think about.  (And let us not forget that many non-profit dollars have been spent advancing the attacks on women’s rights, voting rights, the environment, and everything else – the non-profit sector is not inherently good or bad, it is just a tool, and its value depends on its user.)

Maximize Your Political Advocacy.  

Progressive organizations do not spend enough money on political advocacy.  

For every pro-choice charity that realizes it can actually do some lobbying and unlimited amounts of other activities that are impactful on policymaking around abortion rights, many others stay out of the fight on the mistaken idea that they must remain non-political to be a charity.  Meanwhile, churches and conservative philanthropists have spent many millions of dollars in 501(c)(3) money, not to mention 501(c)(4) money, achieving the exact result in terms of state law and a complicit Supreme Court that we see today. 

There is no hope for progress without significant changes at all levels of government.  Policymakers are constantly deciding the fates of the vulnerable individuals and communities that charities are supposed to serve.  Charities cannot protect these constituents from the sidelines.  

I’ll eventually publish more resources on how charitable organizations can become politically engaged in a fully compliant manner.  For now, I’ll refer you to the excellent work by Alliance for Justice’s Bolder Advocacy program.  And on pro-choice advocacy specifically, I’d refer you to The Forefront Project headed up by Daren Garshelis, a former colleague of mine who provides great support to non-profits focused on reproductive rights, health, and justice.

Want to Get Started Now?  Great, Consider Fiscal Sponsorship.  

Perhaps the tool that is already most widely used by grassroots organizations, fiscal sponsorship can give small organizations or informal projects access to charitable dollars, without the cost or delay of setting up a new non-profit organization.  If you are an individual that sees the news and wants to launch a new organization to protect women’s rights, voting rights, or otherwise just throw some sort of resistance up against the state of affairs, you could talk to a non-profit lawyer and set up your own organization, establish tax-exemption, and be another non-profit in the struggle.  And maybe in the long term, that is the right thing for you.  But first, figure out whether it is going to work or not, and do it without delay.  

Want to start financing the litigation costs of people sued under this ridiculous “bounty” system in Texas?  Want to get feet on the ground to educate voters on how to overcome the new obstacles of the month?  Get started now.  

Come up with a plan for how you are going to do it, who you are going to ask to fund it, and approach a fiscal sponsor (either a mission-aligned public charity with its own programs or a public charity that acts as a fiscal sponsor as its charitable activity).  You could be a Model A Fiscal Project and operate under the auspices of the sponsor.  Or you could be a Model C Fiscal Project and receive grants from the sponsor to a new organization.  For finding a sponsor, check out the National Network of Fiscal Sponsors and look for a good match.  

For learning more about fiscal sponsorship, I’ll eventually publish some resources, but for now, check out FiscalSponsorship.com maintained by Greg Colvin, a brilliant mind that is in many ways the founder of the field.

If You Have Money, Give It.  

Originally, I was going to talk about fundraising strategies and ways that non-profits can pitch different types of gifts and their advantages.  But, the problem is not that non-profits are not asking for money – they have to spend far too much time doing that as it is.  The problem is the people not giving.

There will be many people that donate out of their limited discretionary funds to Planned Parenthood today or many other good organizations, which is great.  But we live in a society where resources are concentrated in the hands of a very few.  While some of those individuals are deploying their resources aggressively to support the cause, many philanthropists – even progressive philanthropists – have a much more passive approach to philanthropy (and for a moment, I will try to forget about the philanthropists actively combating reproductive rights and voting rights with their resources).  

There are billions of dollars in the donor-advised funds and private foundations of individuals who claim to support reproductive rights – these are charitable vehicles with either no distribution requirements or a very limited distribution requirement (5% for private foundations).  There are billions more in their individual holdings that could be deployed in a year in which there are even more tax incentives to give cash to charities than usual, thanks to a provision in the CARES Act that was extended through the end of 2021.  

Don’t need a charitable contribution deduction because you already don’t pay any taxes?  No problem – check out a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization.  You can spend unlimited dollars on lobbying, significant money on candidate activity, and, “thanks” to the outgoing administration and many other policy decisions, barely have any accountability or transparency into how you do it.  Other people are using these tools against the causes you care about, so maybe this is the year for you to deploy your considerable untaxed resources in response.

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There are many other more knowledgeable and constructive articles being written today.  If you made it to the end of this one and want to discuss any of this further, please feel free to reach out.  Today, even more than usual, I am always ready to make time for people who feel the same way about these developments and are able to keep pushing forward, and to chat off the clock about what resources you might draw upon.