Comments on: Are We Still Involved in the Pursuit of Truth? If Not, Why Not?

By: Who Teaches Us to Question? | Rosetta Thurman

Who Teaches Us to Question? | Rosetta Thurman — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 14:54:37 +0000

[...] the “real” world of nonprofit management, I had lost a bit of my idealistic college fire. I had forgotten that I’d come to the sector not just to build better organizations, but to [...]

By: Rosetta Thurman

Rosetta Thurman — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:48:00 +0000

@ Janice & Eric – this is where I struggle the most…where is our courage or motivation to CHANGE THE GAME? Or at least the rules? why do we have to be beggars on behalf of our clients? Or reserve our passion for volunteerism outside of our nonprofit jobs? It’s crazy when you actually break it down, but it seems we’ve gotten so used to it, we’re weakened in our ability to charge forward with a new way of doing the work. Do any of you feel me?

By: Rosetta Thurman

Rosetta Thurman — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:45:00 +0000

@Romancitizen – thank you for your thoughtful comments. I had to think about what you said for a while and try to get to why I’m thinking about this. And what I came to is really…feeling dissatisfied about my contributions within my current role within the nonprofit community. I think I’ve started to engage dialgoue around some things that really need changing, but still in a very “safe” way compared to how I went out on a limb in my younger days. That’s not to say that nonprofits are not pursuing truth…but that we need to ask ourselves that question EVERY DAY, and if it’s painful, what do we do about that?

By: Eric Giles

Eric Giles — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:39:00 +0000

I feel what you and Elisa are talking about. Before I came to DC and became employed in the nonprofit sector I was full of fire and an active volunteer in many great causes. I felt passionate and about the moral superiority of the nonprofit sector.

I don't think I've lost the fire, but I would readily agree that a veil has shrouded my experience of it. The veil seems to be made up of all the administrative and political mechanisms that are necessary for a nonprofit to operate and carry out its mission.

I find it so much easier to be a volunteer for a cause or participant in an event. Your ability to express your passion has fewer constraints.

I think that is why volunteerism is the heart and soul of the nonprofit community. Their passion and committment provide us, the employees, with a lifeline while we negotiate the backwaters clearing the way for others to follow.

Whenever I am losing my idealism I volunteer for a cause, or even just talk to someone who is volunteering. It helps recharge my batteries and get back up on the battlements.

By: Janice

Janice — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 22:03:00 +0000

Rosetta, thank you for this post. I have been struggling with this too recently. On the one hand, the stuff most of us do in nonprofits on a day-to-day basis is not the sexy stuff of “social change.” But that doesn’t mean it’s not important and that it doesn’t need to be done. Someone needs to answer the phone, whether it’s a receptionist or the first person to pick up. Someone needs to process donations. None of that grand, idealistic stuff can happen without support. Like arranging for buses. Or scheduling volunteers. Or sending out mailings, calling, etc. so that you actually have volunteers.

On the other hand, I agree with you and Sara, that it often feels like we’ve got to play the game to get anywhere. And it drives me nuts half the time. Yet as cynical as it sounds, this is a marketplace. We are subject to supply and demand and other market forces just like a for-profit business. If no one agreed with our causes, we’d have no support, financially, politically, or people-wise. If not enough people agree, or not enough people are aware, then we won’t have enough support–no matter how important we think our cause is.

Sara, you reminded me of a book I had started reading a long time ago (can’t seem to find it now) called Sweet Charity. The author (forgot her name as well) argues that social services are part of the problem. Thus, the government and many other people can say, “Hey, look at these great organizations and giving citizens who are taking care of this problem.” And thus, no incentive for policy or institutional changes. (And, I think, this is part of what Rosetta was getting at.) I didn’t finish the book, so I don’t know all of what she argued. Yet it’s a tough call to let people die for want of something so basic as food or shelter just to prove a point. (Great idea for call to action though: If we didn’t provide xyz services, 1 million people would die each year from abc problem.) But I digress. I’m not trying to condemn anyone (my organization basically does a form of social services), but it’s definitely something worth some thought.