Nonprofit AF

Hi everyone, if you’re free next week, March 4 to 6, please join me at the virtual Nonprofit Marketing Summit: Evolve, which is FREE. My session will be on March 5^th at 11am Pacific Time, and is called “Nonprofits, Bans, and Burnout: Surviving in 2025 Without Losing Our Collective Minds (or Tax-Exempt Status).” It’s really more of a pep talk, but anticipate some cussing. Register here.

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When my younger son was two, I remember him one day sitting on the stairs, his tiny face cradled by his little hands, looking forlorn. I sat down a few steps below him to be at eye level. “Kiet,” I said, “are you ok? What’s wrong?” He shook his head solemnly. “I have no two wings,” he said. Apparently, he realized some animals had wings and could fly, and he didn’t, and it created some sort of toddler existential crisis.

The past month, a lot of us probably felt like Kiet did, helpless while watching our society collapse, wishing we had the power to do something about it (and sometimes, maybe, the opportunity to fly away from it all). It is easy to fall into a sense of futility, thinking that nothing we do matters any more.

However, when things are toughest is when our everyday actions matter the most. These simple things we do to support one another, build community, and protect what’s good in the world, are just as important as the major actions. I asked colleagues (Feb 19th post) to list some tangible actions we can all take that make a difference. Below are a few of them, in no particular order, mildly edited for typos and length. Reading through the 450 comments I received was very heartening, thank you. Apologies for not including everyone and not crediting who said what (people and orgs named on this blog have gotten attacked in the past):

For everyone reading, don’t be overwhelmed by this list. You can’t do everything. Try your best to do a few things when you can:

1. “Dramatically reduce spending. I’m only spending money on necessities and only at BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ local businesses in my rural area. I grocery shop at the Mexican grocery. Buy eggs from a neighbor who happens to be a member of the LGBTQ community. I’m having the heater core in my car changed out by a Mexican American owned mechanic. I have yet to figure out the gas piece beyond dramatically reducing my driving – taking transit, carpooling with friends, walking, grouping trips.” This Friday February 28 is an economic blackout, so try to spend nothing.
2. “Boycott business that have scratched DEI focus.” Some of them are Amazon, Ford, Lowe’s, Target, McDonald’s, Walmart, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Disney. Here is a list of more. Email and let them know your reason.
3. “Go to local school board meetings in visible gear that supports queer and trans students. Volunteer at our neighborhood foodbank. Frequent POC and woman-owned businesses. Check on the senior citizens on my block once a week. Help folks safety plan who may need access to an international border and be with people who know how to cross and are passable. We realized we have space in our home, time, and (in relativity) money. Trying to focus on directly helping people we know who are impacted by federal cuts – either employees or services. Those who are terrified.”
4. “I made an appointment with the offices of my state senators (who happen to be all democrats) and went to speak to their staffers at length. They said they had been inundated with calls, visits and emails but they welcome them and want everyone to keep it up because it provides the impetus for them to keep fighting […] They also said it is just as important to reach out to elected officials who are Republicans because if enough constituents are complaining, they will know and hopefully consider that when they cast their votes.” Here’s a website a colleague recommended: www.5Calls.org
5. “Buy Plan B at Costco. Keep it at your house in case anyone in your circles needs it.”
6. “Pay attention to local needs. Feds cut off funding for summer lunch programs? Create a neighborhood food program with local retired folks making meals. School closes and moms need to go to work? See if a babysitter can come take care of them for the day for the group of kids at your workplace. People can’t afford to buy new clothes or cars or appliances because techbro pipsqueaks don’t understand inflation and tariffs? Share a lawnmower, or have a mending lab one weekend a month to replace buttons or fix tears, or carpool.”
7. “Not only get a library card, but check out materials that are targeted. You don’t have to read them, you don’t even have to take them out of the library. Even if you just check them out and immediately return them, they still get the check out stat.”
8. “I share chalk messages on our front steps. Sometimes aspirational, sometimes reminders about upcoming elections, etc., sometimes a teensy bit snarky. But all in all well-intentioned & hopefully make some folks smile (or at least roll their eyes…)”
9. “Support your local indie bookstores so they can continue to put on community events and offer books that will likely be banned under this current wave of [fascism].”
10. “Give money, give money, give money. Millions are being yanked out of the nonprofit sector and in turn, millions will lose services. Please help replace these funds.”
11. “Visit your favorite local museum or cultural organization/community center. If you are in a place where you can afford a membership, even better! Even if you live in a city where these types of institutions have free admission and look like they are ‘doing well’ on the surface, I guarantee there is a lot going on behind the scenes and staff/resources are going to be tested like never before.”
12. “As a music artist, I can wholeheartedly say this: stop streaming on Spotify and buy a record instead. Do the same kind of thing across all industries/creators. If you want food, don’t rely on delivery apps that charge you and the restaurant a lot of money (try pickup or dining in instead). In fact, when possible, choose “community” over convenience. Most of the large, corporate entities have built their businesses around convenience – at the cost of small, independent creators.”
13. “Be mindful of self-care and not allowing the news/environment chip away at your joy. Recognize the difference between being informed and toxic reveling in news by carving out specific times for engaging with the news as well as specific time to focus on doing something creative, restful, and emotionally fulfilling.”
14. “Supporting artists and performers, especially those being affected by the loss of support for DEI and LQBTQ+ programs.”
15. “Go buy an annual America the Beautiful pass from your local national park or US fish & wildlife site. They get to keep a big % of the funds from in-person pass purchases. Also buy their merch, volunteer & support their Friends organizations to keep them running. They need our support to demonstrate how much we value them before they make any excuses to open them up to drilling and logging.”
16. “Write encouraging notes to people doing good.”
17. “Nonprofits could hire experts while utilizing equity practices. Not pretending equity and throwing language around. But actually being equitable. 1. List the salary 2. Pay applicants for required labor such as “writing tests.” 3. If deciding to hire a consultant/contractor instead of a full-time employee, increase the salary/rate by 25% so that they can afford to purchase their own benefits.”
18. “I’m worried about bigger holes in the human services safety net. Once you fall through it’s even harder to climb back out. 1) People who are housed need to try to stay safely housed. If you know how to do home repairs, volunteer to do so for others, and teach those skills too. 2) People who are working need to try to keep working. Promote from within. Donate to Mutual Aid for gas or car repairs. Listen to workers. Don’t use the self-checkout. Donate to child-care scholarship programs.3) People who are healthy need to stay healthy. Cook or clean for elderly or busy neighbors. Take walks with stressed coworkers.”
19. “Helping with childcare for neighbors laid off from federal jobs and randomly making them food.”
20. “Volunteer to teach English to immigrants in your community.”
21. “Care for your own and other’s hearts and nervous systems. Share/host a meal for your friends and colleagues. Do art together — and before you say you can’t do art, yes you can. Collage, doodling, coloring pages, and friendship bracelets are all easy activities. Reminding ourselves of the joy of connection and creativity are needed.”
22. “Write LinkedIn recommendations for LinkedIn connections that may be out of a job now or soon. Don’t wait for them to ask.”
23. “Join a low stress community service group, like Kiwanis or Lions Club. I joined Optimists today. The time commitment is minimal, but you will meet with people you likely don’t socialize with often and the community support they provide is noncontroversial. It shouldn’t replace the hard community work that needs done, but it’s a good way to make local connections and make a positive impact on your community without all the burnout-inducing exercises in community organizing.”
24. “Meet your neighbors (if you haven’t already done so). Throw a potluck block party. Start a phone tree for weather emergencies. Start a Tool Share list so everyone doesn’t go out and buy seed spreaders or whatever. Mow a lawn or take in a trash can. You get the drift. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”
25. “Be kind. Ask people, especially those working in nonprofits, how they are doing. Offer support, understanding and thank them for their work.” “Doubly if they work in the DEI space!”
26. “Form a local progressive voting engagement group (not based on party, more on common progressive values). Meet in people’s kitchens and living rooms. Talk with neighbors. Mobilize for local races and state races. Protect our community and be connected.”
27. “Send funds (even the small amounts help) to pay for USCIS filing fees for immigrants filing for legal status.”
28. “Support animals 1. Outdoor cats kill Abt 2.4 billion birds each yr in the US alone. 2. Bird safe window decals. Hundreds of thousands migrating birds get killed every year, especially in cities. 3. Support native plants and remove invasives. Don’t support invasive species. 4. Don’t use rat poison, esp outside. 5. Buy organic (preferably shade grown) coffee and bananas:) No palm oil.”
29. “If you’re a parent, get involved in your school’s PTA”
30. “Use MapQuest and ecosia.org instead of Google maps and Google’s search engine.”
31. “When I am at peak emotional stability, I am usually following a practice of writing a thank you note every day. Great way to keep gratitude front and center.”
32. “Donate blood. I’ve been a regular donor for years, but the election prompted my 17-year-old to begin.”
33. “Volunteer at your local animal shelter, most are always in need of another pair of hands. And the mental health benefits from being around animals is so helpful!”
34. “Check in with senior centers/retirement homes– especially if you have kids that want to do something- major holidays are hard but if your kids show up with a bunch of hand made valentines something magic happens. These folks are especially at risk with Medicaid cuts and often feel forgotten. Show them you remember.”
35. “I saw people on another thread who were calling their local news stations every time they don’t report on something like the 50501 protests or likely impacts on their local farmers from. USAiD cuts for example— they wrote to local Media providers repeatedly and called them and went to their offices to ask why they were not covering the protests, for example, and some saw this news covered soon after.”
36. “I did a training with an immigration attorney in my community. He said if anyone gets picked up by ICE they need to know two things: where they are being taken, and the phone number (memorized) of someone on the outside who can advocate for them, contact attorneys, etc. I’ve shared this info with an undocumented friend and promised to be his contact.”
37. “Get involved locally. Attend city council meetings.”
38. “Endeavor to consume television, films, books, and music that aren’t written, produced, and/or performed by white men. It becomes a challenge at times and makes me more purposeful in considering and consuming content.”
39. “Check out Bad Ass Cross-Stitch for ideas about community stitching projects etc. make art by stabbing things”
40. “It is kinda simple, but smile at strangers that you pass when you make eye contact. It is shocking how much positive energy is sparked in such a simple exchange.”
41. Continue to share and speak up on Palestine, Congo, Sudan, and other issues the media are continuing to ignore.

Please add other actions you are doing. Thank you for continuing to keep the world kind, just, joyful, and inclusive wherever and whenever you can.