I’ve struggled with how to navigate the tension between doing my day job — meeting the needs of my clients who’re fighting to make the world a better place — and my reaction to the assaults on democracy, the rule of law, decency, common sense, and a livable planet by the current occupant of the White House and his lackeys and minions.
Much of what I’ve learned, preached, and practiced when it comes to nonprofits depends upon some foundational principles around how the world operates that have been thrown into doubt when the rule of law doesn’t matter.
Meanwhile, the good people of Minneapolis — and many other cities on a smaller scale — are promoting general strikes, putting their bodies in literal danger trying to protect their neighbors from Trump’s goon squad, and setting an incredible example of both valor and smarts.
So what can I do from the comfort of my home beyond show up at one of the occasional Portland protests? Should I even continue to do my day-to-day work with nonprofits as if the country wasn’t teetering on the edge of chaos or open war against the people?
In thinking about my own role, I was recently reminded that in nearly every example of countries backsliding into authoritarianism, among the first things wanna-be dictators do is undercut civil society — any bonds between people that aren’t either about fear or money. That means investigating or making illegal nonprofit organizations (non-governmental organizations or NGOs in the international context).
We’ve seen the Trump Administration launch war against many nonprofits first by cutting off their funding, not just prospectively, but also illegally breaking contracts.
We’ve seen investigations — particularly by some of Trump’s Congressional toadies — although not yet at the scale that I initially feared. (But we’re only one year in, so time will tell).
So that lands me right back at my mission as a consultant: “to make the world a better place by helping mission-driven organizations thrive.” I think everyone should double down on what they know best in how they help in this moment of peril.
Fortunately, the nonprofit sector in the United States is strong, robust, resilient, and has the capacity to fight back. There are literally dozens of examples of nonprofits in Minneapolis, to give just one example, who’re doing the day-to-day work of defending their city and neighbors. National organizations are waging both legal battles and PR battles. People are continuing to be incredibly generous, notwithstanding declining consumer confidence and economic headwinds.
So I’ll keep plugging away helping the nonprofits I love and care about put themselves on a stronger, more resilient trajectory, both accomplishing their mission and reminding everyone in the process that people can and should work together for the common good. I’ll continue to offer free introductory consultations, even to nonprofits who have no intention of using my services. I’ll double down on making most of my resources free for anybody to read on my website or to read offline via my e-books.
Of course, the other thing I know from my years with the Oregon League of Conservation Voters and working with electorally focused nonprofits is elections. So I’ll continue my practice of finding 2-4 candidates and electorally focused nonprofits who I believe in who I’ll both donate to and champion as a fundraiser. For rest assured, the November midterms are going to be a hurricane of noise, heat, and misinformation, and the good people of America absolutely must rise up and show via the outcome that the current occupant of the White House is America’s past, not it’s future.
And I’ll also show up at as many protests as I can.