At the Colorado Nonprofit Association's annual award luncheon today, I watched a video that moved me to tears about what nonprofits do for the Colorado community. I listened to award recipients who've worked tirelessly for decades talk about what it means to work in philanthropy. I felt good. I felt important. I felt justified in my choice to pursue nonprofit management as a career.
But having spent ten weeks talking to my students about how asking for donations is giving people a chance to match their passion about a mission with an organization's needs, I was infuriated by Lieutenant Governor Barbara O'Brien's speech. She talked about how you have to be comfortable with begging to work in nonprofit organizations. She actually used the word two or three times. She's the former executive director of the Colorado Children's Campaign, so she had a lot of street cred in that room. I heard people around me murmuring in agreement and saw them nodding when she said that.
As long as we have nonprofit leaders and government officials perpetuating that kind of thinking, we will never run our organizations efficiently. We will never maximize donations. We will never help all of the people we are capable of helping. We will never put ourselves out of business by eradicating the social injustice and oppression we fight because we limit our thinking and our possibilities. Wake up, Barbara, and stop teaching the next generation to think just like you.
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