Abundance is the strategy
Published in the Philanthropy News Digest (May 2023)
“Too often, nonprofits and social justice organizations ask only for what we think we can get, rather than what we need to serve our communities well. It comes as no surprise: We are told time and again that there is not enough for everyone. Make do with what you have. Bootstrap.[…]
We must break out of the cycle of scarcity and adopt an abundance mindset. Funders can and should work in partnership with and take guidance from organizations on the front lines on how to sustain the work, rather than driving deliverables on their own.[…]
In April, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) released $22.5 million in statewide immigration funding for removal defense legal services. CDSS now funds full-time employees of nonprofit legal service providers and counts matters, rather than cases, as deliverables. The result of a collective multiyear advocacy effort, the funding and deliverable redesign will have a significant impact on the field.[…] with an abundance mindset, not the scarcity direction with which so many of us have long had to operate.
In 2016, after traveling to and learning from victories in New York, we coordinated with over 100 organizations, law firms, local governments, and foundations—including the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, the Grove Foundation, the San Francisco Foundation, the County of Santa Clara, and the California Coalition for Universal Representation—to advocate for the universal representation needed at the local and state levels. […] In 2017, we succeeded in securing over $50 million in new funding from the state and multiple San Francisco Bay Area counties for detained and non-detained removal defense services.[…]
Instead of asking, ‘What would a funder be willing to give us?’ we need to ask, ‘What does our community need, and what does offering them the best cost?’”