The Push and Pull: Declining Interest in Nonprofit Leadership

For over two decades the Building Movement Project (BMP) has been documenting the experience of leaders of color in the nonprofit sector. A new report titled The Push and Pull: Declining Interest in Nonprofit Leadership finds a “steady decline in the aspiration to lead for respondents not already heading organizations” (3).

More specifically, “A quarter of BIPOC respondents in 2016 (25%) and 2019 (24%) were not interested in becoming an Executive Director/CEO of a nonprofit. The percentage climbed to almost one-third (32%) in 2022” (6).

The report further finds that rather than being “pulled” into leadership—described as “encouragement, skills development, opportunities for advancement, positive role models, and the beliefs that they can make an impact by building on the foundation laid by their predecessors”—respondents “often appeared to be pushed towards leadership to correct their negative experience in the sector” (3). Specifically, they seek to address “negative organizational structures and/or obstacles to advancement” (3).

nonprofitquarterly.org/pushed-into-leadership-hung-out-to-dry/

Making The Ask Webinar

Nonprofit leaders of color face unique challenges when fundraising for their organizations. According to the Nonprofit Executives and the Racial Leadership Gap: A Race to Lead Brief, leaders of color, on average, have smaller budgets and report a lack of access to, and challenges securing, financial support from a variety of funding sources.

In this conversation, Starsha Valentine, Charles Stephens, and Xandy McKinley shared their experiences, strategies, and tools to help BIPOC leaders improve their fundraising strategies. They explored their individual experiences as Black professionals working with nonprofit organizations, discussed challenges, and successes.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the conversation:

1. Authenticity and Personal Values:

The importance of showing up as your authentic self was a recurring message in the conversation. It is important to align one's personal values with the work being done. Articulating "why" you are passionate about the cause can greatly impact your fundraising efforts.

“Your passion gets conveyed whether you intend to or not–so being able to do work that is in line with your personal values allows you to speak more authoritatively about it which makes you a great fundraiser.” - Starsha

“Every now and then I ask myself ‘what is my work’ and I write it down to stay connected to my work and values.” - Charles

2. Addressing Income Disparity:

BIPOC led organizations have become resilient innovators. Income disparities can pose unique challenges and finding ways to bridge this gap is crucial. Overcoming these disparities takes strong networks, creative thinking, and collaboration. 

“We need to start actually talking to each other, creating and holding space for each other to ask questions and being able to share our resources together.”
- Starsha 

3. Building Relationships and Networks:

Building relationships emerged as a critical aspect of successful fundraising. Connecting with donors and funders on a personal level, sharing stories, and fostering meaningful relationships can improve the experience and processes of requesting support. Expanding networks, both within the nonprofit sector and beyond, was also mentioned as a valuable tool for gathering insights and approaching funders effectively.

4. Managing Mental Health as a BIPOC professional

Fundraising is challenging, stressful work. Managing these struggles requires support systems, boundaries, and balance. 

“It’s beneficial to have a good support system–people that you can get on the phone with after you have hard conversations.” -Charles 

Building support systems comes from trial and error and connecting with people and professionals who feel comfortable for you. It’s also validating to have others in your industry who share similar experiences.

“No is a complete sentence and prioritize rest” - Xandy

Find a balance between professional support and community building within the fundraising space. Create safe spaces for sharing experiences and challenges, both within the workplace and with peers. This balance can contribute to overall well-being and resilience in the fundraising journey.

5. Sharing Impact and Building Media Relationships:

Effective communication was emphasized as a key skill for successful fundraising. Charles shared his success in sharing impact and missions through various media platforms, including local grassroots publications. Building positive relationships with the media can play a crucial role in connecting with potential donors and supporters.

6. Diversify funding sources

There’s more than one way to raise funds for an organization. Develop strategies to engage with different funding sources and learn about what and how they fund before making an ask, responding to an RFP, or submitting an application. 

7. Summary of tools, skills, and qualities for success:

• Know what the story is

• Understand the work you are doing and why

• Share your story and the story of the organization

• Believe that the work you are doing is meaningful

• Expand your network

• Ask questions and share experiences with other fundraisers of color

• Actively work towards collaboration and less competition

• Share resources

• Build strong relationships with the media

• Monitor funders and understand what they fund

• Understand your fundraising strengths build them, and build around them

• Diversify your funding sources

There are many different facets of fundraising and you don’t have to do it all yourself. Seek support as much as possible. - Charles

Additional Resources:

• Why Black Leaders Must Read Black Writers, Charles Stephens

• Bridgespan Racial Equity and Philanthropy

• Lilly Family School of Philanthropy: Giving USA report overview

• Leadership in Color page, Purpose Possible

• Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance
  by Edgar Villanueva

Nonprofit OS

By Starsha Valentine
Partner and Mid-Atlantic Managing Director

Building a movement is hard. Building an organization to support that movement is even harder. 

Hiring staff, managing the finances, and measuring impact can all feel daunting for any founder hoping to do their work effectively. Social justice organizations have seen the same turnover and burnout rates as many traditional nonprofit organizations citing things such as toxic work environment, ineffectual leadership, and interpersonal conflict. But these are only symptoms of a system not built to support the work and the people doing it. 

Building an organization that can sustain social impact requires the adoption of values-aligned operations, and those operations include practices that govern an organization and drives its culture. These collective practices and processes are called your Operating System (OS). For many BIPOC leaders, traditional approaches to developing their OS don’t fit community-centric movement strategies—structures such as a strongly hierarchical organizational chart, top-down decision making, resources allocated based on performance, etc. However, by creating systems that allow for Collaborative Leadership, Programs Management, and Inclusive Tools, you can ensure the longevity of the organization’s mission, even as leadership changes over time.

An OS for social impact includes various components—like team dynamics and community engagement—that support the daily operations. In recent years, BIPOC leaders have adopted innovative ways to design their internal systems that disrupt traditional approaches and keep their organization in alignment with their intended mission. 

How are leaders developing their OS?

As movement-building organizations formalize and set their internal structures, some have chosen to lead their operations from a space of shared responsibility and accountability. This has resulted in models of decision making that employ a more circular governance structure to move their work forward. Purpose Possible client Dreaming Out Loud uses a Co-Development Director model that leverages individual strengths for a stronger development team—one director manages institutional giving while the other handles corporate partnerships. These models allow the organization to craft roles that amplify individual strengths while removing the typical siloing that happens when organizations are scaling their operations. Particularly in times of transition or turmoil, collaborative leadership democratizes power, increases inclusion, and improves the skillset of the collective. 

An extension of a democratized leadership structure is building an inclusive process of program management. The very process for how an organization ideates, develops, and tests the impact of its program is a part of its OS. By using a process called Human-Centered Design, organizations are creating a set of practices that govern how they manage programs and how they design the work to meet the expressed needs of the community they serve. Fertile Ground spent several years hosting listening sessions and organizing community members to determine that they wanted a community-owned grocery store in their neighborhood. Now they’re planning a capital campaign to do just that—all created and led by community members. This is an example of the community-centric approach to program development. 

Even the technology tools you use to manage your data and program operations can be built with an inclusive, equity-centered approach. In today’s remote work era, using tools like Slack to manage asynchronous working increases employees’ ability  to build schedules that best suit them and their families. The ability to have effective remote work improves diversity, promotes equity, and increases accessibility for all team members. 

Having a set of values that guide your OS is a great foundation for a healthy, resilient organization. 

Board Management 101

By Starsha Valentine
Partner and Mid-Atlantic Managing Director

An effective Board of Directors is a critical component of leadership for any nonprofit organization. For BIPOC-led organizations, the board’s roles, responsibilities, and engagement could be the difference between a sustainable future and an uncertain one. This month, we’ll take a look at six roles of the board and why their engagement is important for the health of your organization. Stay tuned to our LinkedIn Page for weekly highlights of board roles, why they're important, and how to navigate them. 

3/7/2023 — Part 1 of 3:

When many BIPOC Executive Directors first encounter their boards, it’s often in the interview process. This power dynamic sets the stage for the relationship between the Executive Director and the organization’s governing body. But by building a mutually supportive partnership, boards and EDs can continue to advance the organization’s mission in an efficient and sustainable way. 

Two of the most important areas to establish a strong partnership are Financial Oversight and Organizational Growth & Development. 

1. Financial Oversight can sometimes be challenging for first-time BIPOC executive directors or founders with little experience in managing organizational budgets. Leaders can leverage the knowledge and experience of board members to chart a solid path forward for their mission while ensuring the organization has the financial capacity to do their work every day. Establishing a system of regular review before and during board meetings, builds strong trust and shared accountability for the organization’s health between the board and leadership. 

2. Organizational Growth & Development is an important component of board and organizational leadership. By developing a strong strategic plan, in partnership with the board and other staff, BIPOC leaders can create a shared vision, mission, and goal. The strategic plan can outline the organization’s values, its systems change theory, its communications strategy, and its program objectives. Sharing this planning and implementation amongst the organizational leadership will advance the organization’s growth goals and sustainability while deepening its impact. 

How have you partnered with your board in these areas? What are some ways you’ve been able to build a strong relationship with your board members?

3/16/2023 — Part 2 of 3:

Building upon last week's post, in addition to providing financial oversight and supporting organizational growth & development, the board also plays a critical role in the sustainability of the organization. Building a sustainable organization requires a collective commitment to Fundraising & Resource Development. This includes the board making a personal gift to the organization as well as leveraging their personal connections to build resources to support the organization’s mission. Executive directors and development directors can work directly with board members to make sure they have the necessary information and materials to fundraise for the organization. 

Additionally, by supporting the regular review and update of Bylaws, Policies, and Procedures, board members ensure that the organization’s guiding documents are relevant to its mission, vision, and values. Board members and leadership should work together to update the Bylaws to not only reflect current needs of the organization, but also incorporate leading practices such as gender neutral pronouns and other inclusive language. Board members should review the employee handbook and other policy documents every 3-5 years to make any adjustments and values-alignment. 

By working together, board members and organizational leadership can build a resilient, relevant, and sustainable organization.

4/11/2023: Part 3 of 3:

Everyone needs feedback – even the Executive Director. One of the most important roles of the board is to Evaluate the Executive Director. For BIPOC leaders, the power dynamic between leadership and governance can be challenging without a strong partnership with the board. Leaders have the opportunity, at the start of their tenure, to set clear goals, success measures, and intended outcomes for which they will then be evaluated on. By taking ownership of your work and time at the helm, your evaluation can be a time to strengthen your leadership or show areas in which to pivot. A strong mutual respect allows the board and ED to continue moving the organization forward towards its mission and strategic goals. 

Lastly, the sustainability of leadership and governance relies heavily on the ability of the board to Recruit, Engage, and Evaluate itself. Just as board members hire and evaluate the Executive Director, they should take the lead on recruiting, engaging and evaluating their fellow members. BIPOC leaders should work collaboratively to create the process, ensure it is outlined in the Bylaws, and dedicate staff time to support the board in its own self management. A strong board with clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and processes will ensure the impact and legacy of the organization reaches its full potential.

What Leadership Looks Like In Color

By Starsha Valentine
Partner and Mid-Atlantic Managing Director

We’ve all seen the headlines across numerous journals: Black-led nonprofit organizations receive less funding, grow at a slower pace, and are under-resourced compared to their white-led peers. 

As recently as 2019, Echoing Green and Bridgespan’s Racial Equity and Philanthropy report found that “...on average the revenues of the Black-led organizations are 24 percent smaller than the revenues of their white-led counterparts. When it comes to the holy grail of financial support— unrestricted funding—the picture is even bleaker. The unrestricted net assets of the Black-led organizations are 76 percent smaller than their white-led counterparts. The stark disparity in unrestricted assets is particularly startling as such funding often represents a proxy for trust.” 

But the disparity goes beyond just dollars and cents. Despite concerted efforts to shift power to more leaders of color, The Building Movement Project’s Trading Glass Ceilings for Glass Cliffs report shows that newly appointed nonprofit executives of color felt that they “did not have the same support as their white counterparts when they entered their roles.” They were often tasked with major restructuring or cleaning up the mess from the previous leadership while being paid less for their work. 

Many leaders of color have had to be uniquely resourceful in order to further their mission and goals. For many, taking a community-asset-building approach has allowed them to lean into mutually beneficial relationships. They are able to build connections with peers, neighbors, youth, and others to design solutions that are inclusive and effective. When asked how she uniquely leads as a Black woman, Jhae Thompson, Executive Director of Community Youth Advance (CYA), has leaned into “creating a space of learning, accountability, and opportunity.” She recognizes that holding space for young professionals to advance ensures that the future of the work continues to be led by other leaders of color. 

Chris Bradshaw, founder and executive director of DC social enterprise, Dreaming Out Loud (DOL), partners with other well-resourced organizations such as World Central Kitchen and DC Central Kitchen to build capacity for programming and outreach. By partnering with local churches, schools, and community centers, DOL is able to amplify its reach to more neighborhoods across the District, increasing access to healthy food. By leaning into these models of resource development, leaders of color disrupt the traditional leadership paradigm and build a new approach to effective leadership; one that is collaborative, resourceful, and impactful. 

The Leadership in Color series will highlight ways leaders of color can and have built innovative approaches to leadership in their organizations. By sharing their stories of resilience, we hope to inspire solutions for the next generation of social impact leaders. 

Fractals: A Black Feminist Organizing and Movement Building Timeline

Trading Glass Ceilings for Glass Cliffs: A Race to Lead Report on Nonprofit Executives of Color

Echoing Green - Racial Equity and Philanthropy