Fund the People

Jamie Allison of Walter & Elise Haas Fund is guest on latest episode of Dreaming in Color podcast with excellent host Darren Isom of The Bridgespan Group. Listen to this inspiring and informative conversation, and be sure to subscribe to this show: https://lnkd.in/ec6sw7iJ Jamie is a friend of Fund the People and an esteemed guest alum on our FTP Podcast. She was just named to the The NonProfit Times 2024 Top 50 Power and Influence List. She’s got powerful work and beautiful words to share. Jamie and the Haas Fund board and staff have together made one of the most serious and significant commitments to investing in the workforce of social justice nonprofits that we’ve seen in modern times. We recommend listening to the whole interview. But if you’re short on time, jump right to the timestamp 21:16.6 to hear Jamie’s take on avoiding burnout for leaders in the social sector, and “funding them like we want them to win” by providing multi-year, flexible grants with a focus on ensuring quality jobs in the grantees. To hear Jamie discuss this talent-investing and talent justice work in more detail on our FTP Podcast (Season 6, Episode 1), click this link and be sure to subscribe to our show as well: https://lnkd.in/em54QZsh

This message is specifically for all of you who are following the Fund the People page here on LinkedIn: Thanks for being amazing! This page has grown tremendously in recent months, and we appreciate all of you for being part of our community. Have a great weekend!

This recent NYT article discusses the "glass cliff effect" (https://nyti.ms/4d4GgnZ) and highlights how women and people of color are often appointed as "crisis people", ready to handle delicate and challenging situations. Christy Glass, a sociology professor at Utah State University, notes that "...we’re giving them this one shot that is high risk, and if they fail or are perceived to fail, they’re gone. The risk of crashing and burning is high." BMP’s frequently referenced Race to Lead report, "Trading Glass Ceilings for Glass Cliffs," provides direction and recommendations on how funders, interim EDs/CEOs, capacity builders, board members, and current organizational leaders can avoid setting leaders up for the "glass cliff" and better support incoming nonprofit executives of color. Read BMP’s Glass Ceilings report here and let us know what you think: https://bit.ly/3S7Uo7D Stay tuned for BMP’s next Race to Lead report on DEI's positive impact on nonprofits, which will be released later this month.

This recent NYT article discusses the "glass cliff effect" (https://nyti.ms/4d4GgnZ) and highlights how women and people of color are often appointed as "crisis people", ready to handle delicate and challenging situations. Christy Glass, a sociology professor at Utah State University, notes that "...we’re giving them this one shot that is high risk, and if they fail or are perceived to fail, they’re gone. The risk of crashing and burning is high." BMP’s frequently referenced Race to Lead report, "Trading Glass Ceilings for Glass Cliffs," provides direction and recommendations on how funders, interim EDs/CEOs, capacity builders, board members, and current organizational leaders can avoid setting leaders up for the "glass cliff" and better support incoming nonprofit executives of color. Read BMP’s Glass Ceilings report here and let us know what you think: https://bit.ly/3S7Uo7D Stay tuned for BMP’s next Race to Lead report on DEI's positive impact on nonprofits, which will be released later this month.

👇🏼 Lets fund nonprofits w/ enough General operating funding to run well. Let's make it possible for every non-profit to pay a living wage. Philanthropy, board members, and senior nonprofit leaders- this is overdue and directly connected to our current burnout crises in the sector. This is beyond what a good vacation can fix, though that helps too (says the rest guy.) 👇🏼

America is undergoing yet another dramatic executive transition, as President Joe Biden has opted to leave the Oval Office, and Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump via for the only seat at the Resolute Desk. Most organizations go through these transitions at the top (although most are not this dramatic) from time to time. When it come to the American presidency, the U.S. Constitution lays out the broad process for presidential elections, and our federal and state governments support the specifics of the process. But who helps nonprofits navigate executive transitions?! Who is there to provide the needed support during these significant organizational lifecycle moments? At Fund the People, we believe that talent-investing and talent justice must span across the career lifecycle of nonprofit workers, and the organizational lifecycle of nonprofits. Executive transitions are a major moment in those lifecycles that cannot be overlooked. Here’s a great resource with five helpful recommendations for philanthropic funders to encourage, empower, and equip grantmakers to support grantees who navigating leadership turnover. This report comes from our friends at the Cricket Island Foundation, which created its own fund to support grantee executive transition, and then helped to establish Leading Forward. Leading Forward is an emerging national community of practice and resource hub for funders focused on leadership transitions in the nonprofit sector, in particular those involving leaders of color. Learn more about Leading Forward and find great resources at leading-forward.org.

How are the burnout and worker shortage crises linked in a downward spiral? How does burnout lead to churnout? How does churnout lead to burnout? This testimonial says it all. It comes straight from the Center for Effective Philanthropy's new research report, "The State of Nonprofits 2024: What Funders Need to Know." "We aren't able to pay our staff a livable wage [which is] the exact goal we are aiming to reach for the clients we serve. With that, we see higher turnout in our case management team, in addition to each member being responsible for a larger caseload than is sustainable." - Nonprofit Executive Director

It’s the blockbuster movie this summer: BURNOUT-CHURNOUT. See the Two-Headed, Nonprofit-Eating Monster! A Downward-Spiraling Creature Double Feature! The under-funding of nonprofit salaries, benefits, HR systems, and organizational culture contributes over the long term to this soul-crushing, mission-creeping, spine-chilling terror! In a secret lab, the evil mastermind duo of Overhead Mythster and Under-Funder brought forth a new toxic slime, which ensured longterm under-funding of nonprofit salaries, benefits, snd HR systems. The slime oozed out across government agencies, foundations, nonprofit board rooms, executive director offices, and development departments. It left in its wake the soul-crushing, spine-chilling deficit of investment in the nonprofit workforce! Then, a global pandemic struck, tearing nonprofit people and workplaces apart! And out of that dark oozing deficit and those torn-apart nonepeot workplaces emerged an existential new enemy: the spiraling monster known as BURNOUT-CHURNOUT. Burnout jobs lead to people leaving, which creates more work for those left, which leads to burnout jobs, which leads to people leaving, which creates more work for those left, which leads to burnout jobs… Where did the spiral begin? When will it end? Can anyone stop it?! Luckily, a small but rugged group of heroes, named #TalentInvesting, #TrustBasedPhilanthropy, #RealCostsFunding, #PayWhatItTakes, #StaffingTheMission, #TalentJustice, #JustPay and #Relief4Charities, came together to form The #PayForPeople League! The League champions decent nonprofit pay, good benefits, adequate HR systems, healthy working conditions, reasonable workload, and opportunities to rest, to revitalize, and to heal from trauma. With their amazing super people-powers, will the League be able to stop BURNOUT-CHURNOUT from consuming the nonprofit sector?! Find out in this exciting new feature-length cinematic experience!

Our Founder Rusty Stahl talks passionately about Fund the People and #TalentJustice as a guest on a brand-new episode of the wonderful Embodying Change Podcast with host Melissa Pitotti! Take a listen! https://lnkd.in/edTN3YR5