Philanthropic advisors, embrace your role as agents of justice
Hi everyone, you must be as exhausted as I am by the relentless awfulness that’s going on everywhere in the world. But please pay attention to Sudan, where there is a genocide taking place, with thousands recently massacred, including children, and millions displaced and starving. And like with all other genocides, the West is complicit, with the US and other nations supplying weapons to the United Arab Emirates, which backs the terrorist paramilitary force RSF that’s committing horrific atrocities against civilians. Here’s an article on Truthout to give you some context.
We must also pay attention to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where millions of civilians are killed and starved. And those of us who are using smart phones, electric vehicles, and AI, which is basically all of us, are complicit, as DRC supplies a lot of the cobalt and other materials needed for us to have these things. Here’s more information.
I know this is a lot, and I’m also just starting to be educated on these issues. But our governments, our tax dollars, and our everyday usage of technology like smart phones and AI help fuel the suffering and death of millions around the world. Please be vocal about Sudan and Congo, exert pressure on your elected officials to pay attention and act, and donate to local organizations providing humanitarian services.
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A few years ago, when I was leading a nonprofit, I was trying to hire a consultant to do something, probably a strategic planning process. One of the candidates asked, “Are you looking for more of a facilitative consultant, or one that’s more prescriptive?” She meant were we looking for a consultant who would help the team reach its own conclusions, or one who is actively providing recommendations about what the org should do.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot as the field of philanthropic advising has been growing significantly, thanks to the exponential rise of Donor-Advised Funds (DAF) and other wealth-hoarding vehicles. But as this article points out, philanthropic advising is kind of a “Wild West,” with few standardizations or agreed-upon best-practices.
However, that might be a good thing. We have seen how toxic many of the “best practices” we’ve entrenched in fundraising over the past few decades have been, such as treating donors like heroes and shielding them from difficult conversations about the inequitable origins of wealth. Maybe during philanthropic advising’s nascent stage, we can prevent some of these pitfalls before they gain too much ground.
One of these pitfalls I see is philanthropic advisors adopting a “facilitative” stance to their work, where they believe their job is just to be a neutral party that’s there to help the wealthy give out money, but they themselves don’t really push an agenda or encourage donors to give to one issue over another. They are just a vehicle connecting donors to what the donors care about.
This has been the default philosophy in fundraising, and it has caused untold damage to the sector and to the communities we serve. Among other things, it has instilled in donors an illusion of expertise in issues they know little about and a controlling attitude regarding how nonprofits go about doing their work, leading to things like restrictions on overhead and proliferation of ridiculous programs and services no one asked for.
During these unsettling times, where the ultra-wealthy have even more of an outsized influence on the rest of society, it’s vital that philanthropic advisors, and fundraisers, understand and embrace the important role they play. And that role is as agents of justice. This means:
Having a strong grounding in equity: Advisors need to be well-versed in issues of systemic injustice; the history of philanthropy; how wealth is often built through inequitable means such as slavery, stolen Indigenous land, worker exploitation, environmental degradation, and tax avoidance; and how donors themselves continue to be complicit in many of the injustices they’re giving money to address.
Educating donors on the above stuff: Chances are, you are more knowledgeable about a host of critical topics, and ideally, you have a relationship with donors that allows you to provide them with knowledge and push their thinking on important things, in a way that maybe many others may not be able to. Connect them to relevant workshops, books, articles, and conversations.
Instilling justice as the main motivator for donors to give: We need to break donors out of empathy as the main motivator, where they give based on what tugs most at their heartstrings or what they’re most familiar with due to their backgrounds and personal values. Decades of this type of conditioning have created the current situation, where the causes and movements that would lead to a just and equitable world are often neglected and underfunded because they don’t emotionally connect.
Pushing donors outside their comfort zones: Get donors to think about taxes, reparation for slavery, returning stolen land, and so on. Encourage them to be engaged in politics, funding 510c4 work, and so on. Many of these things may be more challenging to do than just going along with whatever donors want to do, but if we’re going to create a better world, we need donors to have some uncomfortable conversations and act.
Aligning with other philanthropic advisors: I see lots of advisors who continue having this “facilitative” mindset. Luckily, there are brilliant colleagues who have equity and justice framing while they work with clients. If those philanthropic advisors align and work together, it will help shape the field of wealth advising for the better.
With everything going on, none of us can afford this default “neutrality” mindset when working with those with wealth and power. Philanthropic advisors are rapidly becoming a very influential force in the world. I hope they will fully embrace their pivotal role in advancing equity and justice.
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