Mission Statement

There are many, many reasons to admire nonprofits and root for the work that they do.

And then there’s all the other bullshit.

This is not a space to rally against the very existence of nonprofits. In real life, I work on keeping the industry strong and safe. (That’s all you’re going to get about me.) American society depends upon the work of nonprofits and, short of profound societal upheaval, we will continue to do so. They not only fill the gaps left by government and private sector; at their best, nonprofits anticipate needs, tackle systemic problems, and imagine better futures. Nonprofits let communities thrive at a moment where the ideas of community and thriving seem anathema to those with the most power.

Yet, again, the bullshit. Like every industry, nonprofits are rife with terrible workplace practices, toxic cultures, papered-over discrimination, upside-down logic, and profound wastes of time. These are symptoms of American society and contemporary business–yes, sure, yes, I know and you know and we know–but one can still treat an illness even if the world around them is deeply unhealthy.

Don’t be mistaken: the biggest threats to nonprofits are the dolt neo-barons of our hyper-capitalist moment and the fascistic dimwits running the country. I have enough sense to say that multibillionaires are a bigger problem than micromanagers–but the multibillionaires shape how our industry works, directly and indirectly, which clearly shapes how the micromanagers make you miserable. Many things can be true at once. I encourage any reader to remember that.

Finally, saying something sucks doesn’t mean it has to suck or will always suck or needs to suck because whaddya gonna do. If I didn’t think nonprofits and the entire industry could improve, I wouldn’t bother pointing these things out. Some of these entries can be changed at the individual, departmental, or organizational level–easier lifts than the entires that are clearly exasperation with federal law / a cohort of massive donors / American partisan politics / technology writ large. Sometimes a good gripe is the best way to envision a better approach and forge a different future, even if that creates all new problems to poke at. Imagine that.