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How well are we treating people who work for social justice?

Posted by Margi Clarke, RoadMap Consulting on May 3rd 2013 at 11:02AM

We know that the social justice sector is not funded as well as the overall nonprofit sector. Just 14% of grant dollars go to groups addressing the root causes of economic, social, and environmental injustice. We also know that many social justice groups suffered large budget cuts due to the recession and most are still facing reduced or stagnant income trends. How are these trends affecting compensation practices in the sector? How well are we treating the people who tackle our most pressing issues of poverty, discrimination, war, and climate change?

A national report called The Wages of Peace and Justice shows that staff in social justice groups are paid significantly less than in the overall nonprofit sector. The study also reports these groups often offer more generous leave and benefits, and try to reflect social justice values in creative ways in both compensation and benefits.

Introducing Our 2013 Spring Next Generation Leaders of Color Program Participants

Posted by Marla Cornelius on Apr 23rd 2013 at 12:51PM

Last week, CompassPoint launched the fourth cohort of our Next Generation Leaders of Color Program (NGLC). At this two-day kickoff retreat, twenty emerging leaders of color from organizations across the Bay Area took an intense, deep dive into leadership through a multicultural framework and get-to-know-each-other activities. They will convene every month for the next 10 months to learn about coaching frameworks, management practices, finance, supervision, and much more.

Click here to read all 2013 spring participant bios.

Dan Pallotta’s TedTalk is Dead Right AND Leaves Out an Important Part of the Argument

Posted by Shannon Ellis on Mar 21st 2013 at 10:37AM

Over the past week I’ve watched Dan Pallotta’s TED Talk, “The way we think about charity is dead wrong” ripple throughout the nonprofit sector and beyond. His core argument, that we should not judge the effectiveness of nonprofits based on our “overhead” rate, is a critical case that many of us in the sector have been making for at least the last decade. I am glad to hear him acknowledge that the nonprofit sector is starved for the capital we need to adequately fuel the growth (when appropriate) and innovation (ability to try and fail) that we need to fully address some of the social problems we are here to resolve. If this talk helps to spark that conversation more broadly – as it appears to be doing, judging by some of the conversation on the comment thread – I’m all for it. If he’s helping people think differently about giving, and about the need to invest in and value nonprofits as a means for social change, great.

Thoughts from the Field: Domestic Violence Advocates Are Optimists

Posted by Erin Scott on Feb 28th 2013 at 12:59PM

Erin Scott, Associate Director of the Family Violence Law Center, participates in the Blue Shield of California Strong Field Project Leadership Development Program. CompassPoint delivers this customized program for leaders from California domestic violence organizations.

Like any other professionals who deal with human emergencies, domestic violence advocates face the realities of violence and pain on a daily basis. The coping mechanisms we develop can make us seem cynical and we often feel isolated from people who don’t work in similar fields.

So when I applied to the Strong Field Project's Leadership Development Program, I was primarily motivated by the opportunity to spend time with other people in the domestic violence field. I had experienced other leadership development trainings but had never been in that kind of reflective, information-sharing space with people, who like me, were committed to domestic violence work.

Find Your Tribe: The “Who” of Leading Change

Posted by CJ Callen on Feb 26th 2013 at 2:09PM

Recently I found myself chatting with someone with roots in philanthropy about my current effort to lead my organization in a process of re-imagining our future to increase our social impact. That person provided her insights and support; she recognized that my “big idea” for my organization sounded like it built on our organization’s history and strengths. She also understood that I was doing this as a process of co-creation involving all our stakeholders.

How to Craft Your One Minute Message

Posted by Zach Hochstadt, Mission Minded on Feb 21st 2013 at 11:33AM

We’re happy to share with you Zach Hochstadt's post on organizational messaging which originally appeared in Mission Minded’s blog. We’re going to make available more of Mission Minded’s great thinking on branding and messaging for nonprofits in upcoming CompassPoints of View blog posts. Keep an eye out!

One of the hardest messages for any organization to create is the one that introduces your work to someone new.

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The Glass Ceiling as a Person of Color Leader

Posted by Monica Arrambide on Jan 28th 2013 at 2:38PM

Monica Ann Arrambide is an alumni of CompassPoint's Next Generation Leaders of Color (NGLC) Leadership Development Program. (Applications for the 2013 cohort available now.) She shared her thoughts with us on what the program has meant to her as a leader and a person of color.

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"We are not going to staff our way out of this."

Posted by Marla Cornelius on Jan 22nd 2013 at 5:22PM

This became a refrain while in the midst of analyzing the data for our newly released report: UnderDeveloped: A National Study of Challenges Facing Nonprofit Fundraising (a joint project of CompassPoint and the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund). But this is not a report about recruiting and retaining development staff. At least not entirely. This is about a much deeper problem, what we describe as a vicious cycle that many organizations are caught in: They lack the conditions for fundraising success, which leads to premature development director departure, which creates instability in the development function, ultimately making it harder for an organization to recruit and retain its next development director. And so on…

Movement Makers in the Move to End Violence

Posted by Marissa Tirona on Dec 19th 2012 at 10:36AM

Two weeks ago, I had the privilege to attend Building Movement 2012 (#buildingmovement), a two-day convening put on by Move to End Violence (MEV), a program of the NoVo Foundation.  Every two years, MEV selects a group of individuals – Movement Makers – to participate in an intensive experience to grow their leadership and collaboration and develop bold strategies. The inaugural cohort of Movement Makers primarily designed the Building Movement 2012 program, inviting over 120 activists, social change agents, and allied leaders to imagine a more invigorated and powerful movement committed to ending violence against women and girls.

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Can Vulnerability Be Power?

Posted by Amy Benson on Nov 14th 2012 at 10:31AM

CompassPoint staff member Amy Benson is leading monthly practice groups in January, February, and March 2013 where participants can learn more about and raise the quality of their interpersonal communication. If you’ve had the chance to work with Amy, you know she’s the perfect facilitator for these sessions.

Vulnerability – eek!  I know I try to hide mine.

If I’m hurt that a friend cancels on me at the last minute, I might smile and say, “Oh, it’s no big deal, I have a lot of other things I need to do tonight too.”  If I’m worried that a colleague may not deliver the materials I need on time, I may send an email saying, “You MUST submit your materials by noon on Friday.” Whether I’m hiding my hurt feelings or my inability to control other people’s actions, I’m doing it to protect myself. I’m hiding the parts of my life where I feel weak, with the hopes that others won’t find those weak spots and exploit them. Sometimes I even hide them from myself, so that I won’t have to feel the incredible vulnerability of being alive and human.

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