For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been following the different perspectives that have been offered in regards to the recent financial setbacks at the NAACP, which I blogged about previously here, and the Chronicle of Philanthropy picked up on here. Everyone seems to be either shaking their heads in woe, saying ‘we told you so’, or lashing out at the NAACP, saying that it is no longer relevant. But in all the chatter, I have not heard many ideas on how to fix the NAACP.
Not an Issue of Relevancy
I maintain my position that in a time where black and brown people are still being discriminated against, are falling behind whites educationally and economically, are still being racially profiled by police, and are disproportionately disenfranchised (just to name a few reasons), civil rights organizations are very much relevant to the needs of people of color today. Saturday’s follow-up article in the Baltimore Sun encouraged me a bit more, however, in terms of where the NAACP could be going. Especially given the strong sense I got from quotes by the local units: the NAACP is not going away. I’m with Lorraine Miller, president of the NAACP’s Washington, DC, branch:
“The direction we take is going to be absolutely critical here. … But does it say that there is not a need for the organization? Absolutely not. There is a need now more than ever.”
What the NAACP Needs to do Now
So my question is: if the NAACP is not going away, what does it need to do now? The Baltimore Sun article helps to give us what I feel to be the four most important action items that they need to focus on (in order of importance):
- Restructure its board to be more effective decisionmakers for a strategic vision (i.e. cut some folks off that 64-member board)
- Find a leader with a vision of how to fight discrimination in the post-civil rights era
- Raise money
- Increase membership
Ronald Walters, a political science professor at the University of Maryland, College Park simplifies the solution even more. Ron says that the NAACP’s cash flow problem is common among civil rights organizations. To come out of this, Ron’s idea is that all the NAACP needs is 1) a strong leader who can mesh with its board’s vision and 2) a good fundraising effort to bring in money. Yes and yes.
“This is a wake-up call,” Walters said. “I think what it’s telling us is the need for a professional approach to fundraising.”
Yes, Julian Bond, I’m Talking to You
Here’s where we come to the ‘Who Thing’ that Tom Tierney talks about. Who will step up and put these action items into play? What kind of leader(s) does the NAACP need? Again, since the NAACP’s financial setbacks are a result of leadership challenges and not an issue of relevancy, we need to look to the board with hope and expectation that they can move these critical items forward. The very first roadblock is, and will continue to be, how to get 64 board members to agree on a vision that a new leader can step in and propel forward. This is where I think they can take some notes from other organizations who have made major changes for the better, starting from scratch and reorganizing their boards. Because clearly, without good board leadership and a vision, the other three action items cannot be done effectively.
Willis Edwards, VP of the NAACP’s Hollywood branch ends us on a positive note.
“People are not happy about it,” said Edwards. “But we have to know that everyone will step up to the plate. This organization has been around 100 years and will be here long after I die.”
