NonprofitAF

@nonprofitaf.bsky.social

Yup. It’s me, rabble rouser, seitan-worshipper, and defender of the Oxford Comma. I’ll be more active on here as time goes on.

“in triangulation, Party C then may get mad at Party B on Party A’s behalf without understanding the full picture. It forms a triangle of drama, and left unchecked often becomes a pentagon or octagon of workplace toxicity.”

Triangulation: What it is, and tips to avoid being caught up in workplace drama

Disclaimer: This post is not written with any intentional assistance from AI, so expect typos, run-on sentences, unclear points, confusing metaphors, and, you know, some other things I can’t think of ...

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“A bunch of funders coming down to bestow knowledge upon the unwashed nonprofit masses. These events reinforce the unequal power dynamics of funders setting agendas, parameters, and processes, and nonprofits obeying.”

A moratorium on funder panels at conferences

Hi everyone. I hope you have had a nice break and were able to rest and recharge. I haven’t done one lick of writing in two months, so this post may be a bit rusty (especially as I refuse to use AI fo...

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‘Polarization’ has become the master concept for diagnosing our current democratic crisis. But this is not polarization. It is the radicalization of the political right. By misdiagnosing it, we risk becoming complicit in the crisis. 🧵 Just out in Perspectives on Politics doi.org/10.1017/S153...

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“There are so many unnecessary, burdensome, onerous hoops and created by liberal funders that any time there’s a slight improvement, it seems like a major event worthy of praise. But excessive praise reinforces the message to funders that we're happy if they do the bare minimum”

Funders and the Prodigal Son Effect

Hi everyone, this is the next-to-last blog post before I go on my yearly summer hiatus. I’ll be off all of July and August to spend time with my kids, who got me a mug that says “Not the worst dad” fo...

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“We need to restore our imagination and vision beyond this resigned acceptance of the pervasiveness of AI to dominate every aspect of our lives, despite how awful it's proving every day to be. Why don't we use that same energy, enthusiasm, and ‘resistance is futile’ language for way cooler things.”

AI is inevitable? Nah. These better, cooler things are the future!

Hi everyone, if you’re available this Friday, June 12th, 1:30pm to 3pm Eastern, join me for “Reimagining Nonprofit Leadership Without Losing Our Minds: A Joyfully Irreverent Conversation with Author V...

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“Not only is this the intrinsically right thing to do, but it’s also the most strategic for all our causes, because supporting trans people weakens fascism. It sends the message that we will not be divided, that we will protect one another, that we will not fall prey to decades-old Nazi tactics.”

Fascism, and why we all need to support trans rights, no matter what issues we're working on

Hi everyone, this week on May 28th at 1pm to 2pm Pacific, I’ll be in conversation with some brilliant leaders (including Jan Masaoka and Al Cantor) about regulatory and tax reform of private foundatio...

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“The question about whether invitations-only grants are valid is also a distraction. When I hear it, it sounds like “Should we invite everyone to compete to the death in the Hunger Games, or should we only invite a few people to compete to the death in the Hunger Games?’”

Let’s talk about invitation-only grants. Actually, let's not.

Hi everyone, I’ve been doing a lot of travel lately in promotion of my book, Reimagining Nonprofits and Philanthropy. It’s been exhausting, but also fun, as I get to meet with really cool people who r...

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“we all donned our embroidered cloaks and filed into a clearing in the forest…Throughout the night, we walked slowly around the fire, Edith invoking the Gospel of Wealth, her Gregorian-like humming punctured by loud droning chants of ‘protect the corpus!’ and ‘perpetuity!’”

The mysterious, secret lives of foundation board trustees

Hi everyone, if you’re in Seattle next Monday, May 4th, 6pm to 8pm PT, please join me and fellow rabble rouser Glen Galaich, author of CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short, for a no-bullshit conversati...

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“I’m not sure Audre Lorde would agree that any tool that’s used by ‘the master’ is a ‘master’s tool.’ […] If the right-wing uses community organizing effectively (and it has), does that mean progressives shouldn’t do organizing, because that’s now a ‘master’s tool?’”

Let’s talk about the “master’s tools,” what they are, and what they are not

Hi everyone. If you’re free on May 7th at 11am Pacific, please join me in this webinar where I’ll be discussing board governance with Dimple Abichandani, author of A New Era of Philanthropy, and Monik...

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“Their spurs are strong enough to support their weight, so once they stab an unlucky person with their spur, they can just hang there, maybe upside down, attached to their victim, chilling while the venom does its work. Inspiring, right?! Let’s be more like that.”

Nonprofits, time to be less like a unicorn and more like a platypus

Hi everyone, I spent all day frolicking under some cherry blossom trees while it was sunny in Seattle, and then going to a nursery to buy some cherry blossom trees, and then contacting the City to ini...

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“It’s great that funders like MacArthur are putting more money into nonpartisan work like civic infrastructure. But this needs to be combined with several billion dollars of investments in absolutely, assertively, unapologetically partisan/political organizations and movements.”

Nonpartisan work is necessary, but not sufficient, if we want to save democracy

Hi everyone, quick reminder that if you’re free this week on Thursday March 19th, 1:45pm Pacific Time, I’ll be having a virtual discussion on my book, Reimaging Nonprofits and Philanthropy, with Ile K...

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Questionable Assumption 9: The decline in giving is because we don’t do enough traditional fundraising….maybe the assumption is completely wrong, and that the decline in fundraising is because some donors are getting sick of that stuff and want more meaningful engagement.”

10 questionable assumptions we make when fundraising that are holding us back

Hi everyone, as I’m getting older, I start reflecting on my work, and there are a few things for which I’m proud of having accomplished. One was coming up with the acronym MYGOD—which stands for Multi...

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“once a while, we do need to stop and acknowledge that we don’t have an infinite number of afternoon walks around the neighborhood, or trips to the playground, or opportunities to catch a movie. The people we care most about are not going to be there forever.”

One piece of advice I would give everyone in the sector

Hi everyone, this post is long, personal, and likely melancholy. One of the questions I get asked often is “What’s one piece of advice you would give to those of us just entering the sector?” or “What...

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“What we have coming up is a year of bold visions, courageous stances, quick and decisive actions, risk-taking, and fanning the small sparks we’ve been nurturing so they become engulfing infernos of equity and progress”

Year of the Fire Horse, and what it means for our sector

Hi everyone, I am hyped up on leftover Valentine’s Day chocolates that I bought at 50% off, so apologies in advance if this post is a bit rambling. The Lunar New Year is coming up, with this Tuesday, ...

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“Philosophically speaking, of course it is; it was outdated as soon as it was invented. We’re talking about a system that really shouldn’t even exist. In an ideal world, we wouldn’t need so many nonprofits or foundations, or even any.”

Is the nonprofit model outdated?

Hi everyone, I'm having a virtual book launch event on February 25th at 10am Pacific Time. It's free, open to everyone, and auto-captions will be enabled. There will be giveaways, quick interviews wit...

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“even the most radically progressives among us, need to get over the delusion that many of the inequities in our world can be addressed without money. Saying that MLK didn’t have corporate money is ridiculous and inaccurate.”

How nonprofits' and philanthropy's fear and disdain of money is biting us in the ass

Quick reminder: I'm having a virtual book launch event on February 25th at 10am Pacific Time. It's free, open to everyone, and auto-captions will be enabled. Details and registration here. -- Last w...

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I think it will be great if we map out and categorize all the ways that white moderation manifests. Doing so will help us identify when we’re engaged in white moderation, and help us find ways to mitigate it. I’m going to call this project the White Moderation Genome Project (WMGP)”

The White Moderation Genome Project

Hi everyone, if you’re not busy on Saturday January 31st, at 9am Pacific Time, please join me in a FREE virtual conversation, “Leading the Work Without Losing Yourself: A Conversation for Nonprofit Pr...

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Shane: I know. But it’s killing me. Clandestine meetings. Pretending we don’t know each other. Sexy times after work hours in my cubicle/supplies closet roleplaying as a Mountie interrogating a maple syrup counterfeiter. I want more than this.

Heated Rivalry, if it were set in nonprofit and philanthropy

Hey everyone, thanks to the recommendation/threats of several colleagues, I finished watching Heated Rivalry, a smoldering Canadian show about gay/bi hockey players. When everything is so awful in the...

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“With the increase in Artificial Intelligence, all these and other forms of poverty porn, othering, and saviorism will be easier to produce, and possibly harder to identify and counter. Let’s all be on the lookout in the coming year. Yay, something to look forward to in 2026!”

The second worst Christmas song ever written, and new forms of poverty porn and saviorism

Hi everyone, this will be the last post for this year. I’ll be back on January 6th. My older son, Viet, loves holiday music, and often asks for it to be played when I drive the kids to various places...

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