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At Foraker, we believe that the nonprofit sector is essential to our democracy. More than just a system of government, the idea of democracy is the notion of free-flowing ideas that often confound us, make us think, and yes, often disagree. Democracy requires attention and conscious conversations. It is, after all, only held together by people with ideas and the rules, ethics, and values that we write and live around it. At times, disagreement is how we know our freedoms are at play. Not conflict for conflict’s sake, but the notion that this ever-evolving system needs respect, connection, and healthy debate. This is the thread that holds us together even as some want to frame it as the thing that pulls us apart.
The nonprofit sector is one of those places where we come together to uphold democracy. We freely associate with missions that matter to each of us. Inevitably that means that for every nonprofit mission you would commit your life’s work to there is another nonprofit that is likely formed for the exact opposite purpose. That is how we make space for everyone to engage in civil society.
Let’s take a look at just a few ways nonprofits lift up the ideals of democracy and small steps we can take together.
Civic engagement through volunteerism
According to AmeriCorps, in 2021, 148,537 Alaskans reported that they “formally” volunteered through a nonprofit organization contributing 9.5 million hours of service worth an estimated $299.1 million. That equates to 27.3% of residents formally volunteering through organizations. While impressive, this data is down since the pandemic and no longer places us in the top 10 states for volunteerism. Importantly, these numbers also need to include how Alaskans also volunteer beyond their role with nonprofits. This “informal” type of community service includes the 98.9% of residents who talked to or spent time with friends or family, the 55.0% who informally helped others by exchanging favors with their neighbors, and the 66.5% who had a conversation or spent time with their neighbors. You know these people! They are you and me, your neighbors, and your mission volunteers. This isn’t a place that divides us, it is the place where we find commonality and connection. And it is what makes Alaska work. You can see it on a big storm day when we are helping strangers navigate the snowy conditions without asking them first about their politics, just strangers helping each other because that’s what keeps our communities strong.
Small donor investment as community collaboration and action
All the data on philanthropy is clear. Since the 2017 tax reforms, we have lost our grassroots donors who used to constitute the majority of charitable giving to nonprofits. In 2021, the American Community Survey reported that 25.7% of Alaska residents belonged to an organization and 47.7% of residents donated $25 or more to an organization. While this is encouraging, it is important to note that individual giving at everyday levels is down across the country. We need grassroots giving, not because we can sustain or even maintain our nonprofit budgets based on these gifts but because the donors themselves demonstrate the power of the people that keeps our democracy in check and balance. The action of many donors investing in a cause disperses power and privilege, it invites ideas and community, and it signals a larger interest for the mission to thrive. Philanthropy means love of humankind and while it can manifest itself in many ways through time, talent, and treasure, the nonprofit sector as a whole is being persuaded through both tax reform and the will of donors to lean only into a few wealthy donors and to abdicate efforts toward grassroots or retention philanthropy. Yet, philanthropy and democracy move hand in hand. We need a strong and wide base of donors not only in each organization but throughout the sector because that is where the voices of the many live. And while moving to large donor strategies like Donor Advised Funds might be the financially savvy decision for some, it leaves in its wake a much bigger and longer-term challenge of preserving our democracy for the people and by the people.
Leadership incubation and workforce development
Every day our nonprofits are a place where we grow leaders – in our boardrooms, our staff, our volunteers, and sometimes in the outcomes of our missions. We attract, retain, and grow a richly diverse pool of people who are drawn by the cause and often must acquire the skills. We are excited to share our upcoming economic report with you this fall that will fully detail all the latest workforce statistics and economic impacts throughout Alaska. But for now, it is safe to say that nonprofit employment numbers are a key factor in our state’s economy and each of those employees and all of the board and mission volunteers are learning and growing every day from their work with nonprofits. Our democracy requires thriving economies and a steady workforce – our sector is essential to those tasks.
While Alaska’s workforce shortages from the pandemic and outmigration have at least in the short term created a very difficult marketplace for nonprofits to attract and retain employees, we can shift some of the narrative to what we do offer – a place to lead with one’s heart and head, a place to do work that matters today and for decades to come, a place that builds a stronger Alaska workforce for each of our communities while having a high aptitude for innovation, adaptability, and collaboration. And we offer a sector that often leads the way in its commitments to inclusion and belonging during the day and in the systems we seek to shift.
Taking action with our collective power for the greater good
If we add up our volunteers, our donors, and our staff and we put them all together, that is a lot of people. And when we mobilize them, they are democracy in action. Perhaps there is nothing more powerful in our democracy than the right to vote. America and Alaska have many challenges in activating people to vote. The barriers are real and, in some states, are getting increasingly more difficult. We also know that trust in our systems is challenged, and opinions are strong. Yet, in Alaska, you can see how every vote matters in a race where often a person wins by just a handful of votes. Of course, ALL charitable 501(c)(3) nonprofits are prohibited (rightly so) from endorsing a candidate, but our nonprofits are also trusted sources of information and are often focused on access and opportunity. Extending your trusted voice to your constituency in a nonpartisan way to encourage voting is not a leap, only a step. We know staying neutral and nonpartisan can be hard or sometimes confusing to navigate so we have partnered with Nonprofit Vote to provide you with a nonpartisan voter engagement guide – because your trusted voice matters in our democratic process.
To be clear, none of these issues side with one political view or another. Instead, we can feel their impact on our daily engagement within our communities. Collectively we can see them as the fabric we weave together with each choice and every action over generations in this often messy and imperfect democracy. We can lean into fear or despair or division or divisiveness, or we can respond individually and as organizations by taking small steps that matter.
Walking with you,
Laurie
P.S. Learn more about what we believe here.