Last September, when the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Citizen’s United vs. the FEC, I wrote a blog (A New Era of Political Equity) articulating what I felt would be the ramifications for nonprofits should the court decide that corporations have First Amendment, free speech rights akin to those of the individual.
Yesterday’s decision, which “rejects limits of corporate spending on political campaigns” now insures that virtually everybody in America, along with corporations and unions, has the right to overtly advocate for, or against, a candidate or incumbent…except for America’s 1.4 million nonprofit organizations/businesses. We alone must remain silent.
Each of us must now consider this reality. In a year in which 36 states will elect new governor’s, and countless cities will elect mayors, we who feed the poor, shelter homeless vets, nurture the elderly, sustain the arts, protect the environment, care for the sick, educate children, etc…must sit on the sidelines and bear silent witness to a process that relies on our work, yet excludes our voice.
There’s a word for this….”wrong”.
And while I for one will work tirelessly to challenge this dynamic, none of us can, or should, loose sight of the fact that we do have power. There are 100 million people who work at, or volunteer with, any number of America’s dynamic nonprofit organizations. Our votes have currency.
We must recognize that we and we alone, are the ONLY force that can provide a counter-balance to powers that would emphasize dividends over citizens.
We must realize that this can ONLY be achieved when set aside historic, understandable, yet detrimental divisions, and finally and firmly stand together. Only from that vantage point will we be able to ask, and insure, that each candidate provides derailed plans for how they would use EVERY asset in the community to achieve their vision for a city, a state or our country.
It could take time, to be sure, to evolve from the cacophony of causes that now mutes our shared potential….but we don’t have the luxury of time. That is why I, for one, am ready to join my voice with yours, and yours, and yours and yours….and I am ready to do it today, so that, regardless of how much money one group spends in a campaign—the community we share will come first.
To that end, I ask you to join me…and all the others who have already signed up for the V3 Campaign, so that the Voice, Value and Votes of the nonprofit sector is heard–legally, and loud and clear–in every election.
In my ongoing dialogue with DCCK’s “under 30” employees, as well as the ones I have with the countless students or young leaders I meet on my journeys, I am asked, more often than almost anything else, for the secrets of making real change happen.
Last year, I wrote a blog about Unplugging (as in, from your IPod’s) so that you can really hear your community. I’m a 100% believer that you cannot be part of changing the world or your community if you don’t know your town, and that means living in it full-fuckin-tilt. Seriously–everyday, from dusk till dawn. And that means being able, or learning to hear the cadence of your community and grooving to the beat of its streets….literally.
Well…as we enter 2010, here’s another tip I use to make bold things happen.
I’m a connector. I’ve trained my eyes to see connections other might miss. The Kitchen is a good example of that. It seems obvious now, but back in the day…when I tried to get folks to understand my vision of connecting food from restaurants with poor people to get them fed AND employed…well, let’s just say that I got a lot of “WTF” stares.
I learned from that experience. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to stay one jump ahead of the curve by building on this lesson. So now, I not only listen to my community, I eyeball it—hard—almost everyday. I walk and watch, listen and learn. I look for loose threads of similar fiber. Then I piece these seemingly random things together to get to a spot where we can launch a new program–a program that works, but that can also be used to get a new dialogue going. NOT about the program we launched (that just happens automatically when it’s badass) but about the issue the program seeks to remedy (hint–you can do both. Badass programs do it all the time)
Campus Kitchens is an example of that. There are 60,000 school based kitchens out there. Just about every kid needs community service hours to graduate—BUT, more often than not, they have to LEAVE school to get those hours. I just made the connection, suggested that it might be smarter to bring the nonprofit to the volunteers versus the older, established model, and BOOM….there are now 20 of them across the country (collectively, they just delivered their 1,000,000th meal) and more are opening this year. What’s cool about it is that it opens lots of doors about the idea of existing community resources—just used differently (and, to quote AC/DC…”dirt cheap”). It also shows what Gen Next students can achieve if 1) you give them the keys to the car (Campus Kitchens are 100% student run) and 2) empower them to drive in the direction THEY think it needs to go.
My larger point. There are TONS of things that have not been linked together, that should. Creating something new out of old shit is what ever generation usually does to redefine the world. Never forget, man…..uranium was just a rock, until they split the atom. Oil was just black, sticky stuff until they invented the engine. And the guitar was just another instrument in the band until Les Paul plugged it IN. It’s the folks that put things that exist together to create something new that rock the world.
So….here are two examples of things I think can be put together. BOTH are bold. BOTH can be done. BOTH need to be done. Ready….
1. Seniors and Sustainable Food–As we talk, there’s a waiting list for Meals on Wheels in over 50% of America’s cities….and there are 80 million “baby boomers” beginning to grow old. In fact….12,000 people a day turn 60 in America…and we don’t have a plan. Right now, the Federal Government allocates $5.00 per meal for a senior and, understandably, demands a certain nutritional content for each meal for it to be eligible for re-imbursement. Now the nutritional content part was devised by the USDA, with heavy influence by food lobbyists, so each meal must include, for example, milk. Many local programs buy meals that are prepackaged to meet these requirments, as well as for convenience and storage. Many of these meals are shipped interstate. Few are made from scratch. But think about it….are these the kinds of meal that will 1) be palatable to a new generation of seniors? 2) keep them healthy? 3) and/or support the local economy? They will if we make the connection between small farmers, locally grown food and seniors. Can you imagine the potential? Think of how many farms we could support if we directed that $5.00 per meal into the local economy, versus into big businesses (no disrespect to business…I’m just more interested in small town economics). Imagine if we also made students part of that equation. Students + seniors + sustainable food = seriously cool business. We’re talking inter-generational after school programs. We’re talking healthy meals-to-go for working families when they pick up Pop or the kids. We’re talking farm to cafeteria…but using the cafeteria as a community hub. That’s the next step for Campus Kitchens…or your program. But we need to make it national….and we need to do it in a hurry.
2. Speaking of national, there are two FAT pots of federal money out there right now. One is for “green jobs”. Now a big mess of that cash is for home renovation…..“Cash for Caulkers” as President Obama announced a few weeks back. This means storm windows, solar panels or other improvements that make a home more fuel efficient. Cool. But there’s another pot of money, in a separate federal department, for “Aging in Place”. Remember the 80 million boomers I mentioned earlier? Well…they aren’t enough retirement homes for all of them, or hospitals for that matter. It’s a HUGE priority that as m-a-n-y folks as possible live at home as l-o-n-g as possible. To do that, they will need their bathrooms retrofitted, and simple things like electric outlets moved up from the near the floor (the “hip-breaker zone”) to waist-high level. Now imagine if we merged those pots of cash? Can you imagine the businesses that could be launched that would train young people or those who lost their jobs to meet this immense need? More important—a smart nonprofit could train AND employ—that’s called social enterprise. And social enterprise’s continually re-invests their profits back into the community, which is THE business model of the future.
And that’s why I launched the V3 Campaign two years ago—to make the connection between nonprofits and local elections, so we elect a new generation of leaders who see these connections, who understand the stakes and who help break down dumbo barriers. I’d like to see folks step up who are BORED by the divide between .com and .org….and who, most importantly, realize that FUNDING these kind of efforts (ie: providing access to capital to nonprofits versus making them jump through hoops to get grants) is smart business for any town…and for this country.
SO…that’s my advice for today. Make the connections others don’t see. LOOK for them–hard. Your community is a puzzle, waiting for you to help solve it. And in some communities, the pieces are green and gray as well as gold.
We have a joke of sorts at the DC Central Kitchen. Every year we say to each other “it can’t p-o-s-s-i-b-l-y get better next year”. It always does.
I can’t explain it. Sure we work hard…really hard. Sure we work the karma thing….with a capital K. And it was our 20th year in operation!!! But still…the tide of love that comes in twice daily over at 425 Second Street is almost beyond understanding.
Consider the basics:
During the year, we worked side x side w/over 11,000 volunteers (including the Secretary of Agriculture, who has some solid knife skills!!). We prepared and delivered way over a million meals (as did our 20 amazing Campus Kitchens–cumulatively, they delivered their one millionth meal this year!!!) And just about ever one of those meals included locally-sourced food. In fact, because we MAKE more than 50% of our own income, we were able to purchase close to a million dollars worth of locally-sourced food, insuring that our meals are super nutritious, while we also keeping as much money as we could circulating throughout the regional economy. On top of it all, we graduated four outstanding classes from our training program (classes 73, 74, 75, and 76). Finally—in what was a real cherry on top of a bold year—we not only stayed open during the worst December DC blizzard in history, banging out 4,000 meals per day, but we added an additional 3,500 meals ON TOP of all that to make sure everybody who was trapped inside had a hot daytime meal.
It don’t get much more bad-ass than that.
But this was the year I really took to the road. I’ve been traveling pretty much ever since we opened DCCK in 1989. I NEVER wanted to be one of those “have-to-make-every-decision” ED’s, so from almost Day One, I’ve surrounded myself with crazy smart colleagues, which has afforded me lots of room to both help and learn from others. For the first few years, I was pretty much helping others develop similar community kitchen efforts. Then I started speaking to the larger issue of nutrition and aging. As DCCK developed revenue generating businesses, I spoke about Social Enterprise. But over the last three years, I’ve taken up the standard on nonprofit unity—what could we accomplish if we quit fighting each other, found common ground and stood UP, together, for a new way of doing business. THAT’S what I talk about now….and I did it almost 80 times this year…giving keynotes from Burlingame, CA to Birmingham, England. I wrote op-eds, did radio and TV interviews, lectured at universities, spoke at high schools and colleges and went out of my way to stir things UP. Like Johnny Cash…I was everywhere, man. I was in Palm Beach, Jacksonville, Lawrence, Austin, Chicago, Louisville, Baltimore, Phoenix (twice), San Fran (three times), LA, Pittsburgh, Albany, Boston, Richmond, Landsing, Milwaukee, Syracuse, Williamsburg, Kansas City and Dallas to name a few.
And here are a few of my favorite moments.
My first speech of the year—with about 1,000 future nonprofit leaders enrolled in American Humanics programs at universities and colleges throughout America. PLUS, it was in Indianapolis a city I have visited many times over the last few years. It was a great way to kick-off the year.
January 20, 2009 was our 20th Anniversary. While we love our jobs, we hate our work, so we kept the fanfare to a minimum. However, our friend Pam Fessler, from NPR did a nice podcast to mark the occasion and our work with the Ritz during the Inauguration of President Obama.
I also used the Inauguration as a backdrop for two of many op-ed’s on the need for nonprofits to unite—one was for the Council on Foundations and the other, my take on nonprofit mergers, for Cause Planet.
I was happy to get a sweet and provocative profile of my work in the Utne Reader, aptly titled “Ladling Soup and Raising Hell”
5. Following a keynote at the Voice09 Conference for the Social Enterprise Coalition of the United Kingdom (where the barrier between politics and nonprofits is less pronounced and social enterprise is way out front), I penned this op-ed for Scotland’s Hollyroot Magazine suggesting (once again) that the time had come to think VERY differently about the role of nonprofits.
Most state budgets are “unveiled” on July 1st of each year. In the summer of 2008, I wrote an op-ed for the Chronicle of Philanthropy arguing that coming budget deficits (26 states posted $46 billion in deficits that year) would have a HUGE impact on the sector. I took pen to paper again for the July 2, 2009 issue, to see if saying it a bit louder this year might get more groups to join the V3 Campaign and GET INVOLVED in every state election.
For some god-knows-why-reason, I was again honored to be included in the Nonprofit Times Top 50 Power and Influence list…for the 4th year in a row. I still remain one of the only direct service providers on the list
You got to love a shout out from the BOSS. Bruce does this EVERYTIME he comes through DC. He is so the real thing!!!
9. This year I really got into twitter (@robertegger) and found out how powerful “new media” is was when I penned this blog about what I learned when I had a meeting with the “under 30’s” at DCCK. The Chronicle of Philanthropy picked it up and it picked up comments from across the country faster than you can say millennials. Two other blogs got similar bumps via twitter—one on the power of listening to your community if you really want to make change and the other on the opportunity that a “down economy” can offer forward thinking entrepreneurs.
10. In the fall, I roared through the prairie states—the frontier states—the mighty Midwest—I was in Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Omaha, Steamboat Springs, Billings and Mankato, MN to name a few. While in Madison I did a fun “business radio” interview on the Jody and Joan Show and penned my BEST op-ed of the year for, of all things, Prairie Fire…a small regional paper that was kind enough to ask for my opinion. We also got yet another great article on our work, this time from the Oregonian
11. Closing out the year, I was honored the be asked by my friend John Gompers, from Experience Corp, to speak at the annual Purpose Prize, a celebration of achievement by older men and women in their “encore careers”
This was an amazing honor. The high hats and hunga-mungas in the audience that night, at a plush vinyard overlooking San Francisco Bay, made the Oscar’s Red Carpet look positively pedestrain….but the list of winners this year was just awe-inspiring. What they are revealing about human nature–the need to be involved in something bigger than yourself–gives me huge faith in the years to come.
Now there was TONS more in 2009 than I have time to commit to paper (so to speak). I saw countless old friends and added a few more to the list. I drank some good tequila in crummy bars and bad tequila in some swell joints. I gave some rip-roarin barn burner speeches…and I laid an egg or two. I was honored to recieve an In Harmony w/Hope Award along with Father Gregory Boyle (of Homeboy Enterprises in LA) and Father Peter Young (who has done powerful work on NY state to house and employ felons). I performed my 6th wedding for my friends Barton and Carrie Ann, which got covered by Martha Stewart. I even made it to LA a few times to work w/my friend Azad on a project we hope to see gain traction in 2010, the LA Central Kitchen. While there I stopped by Dee Dee Ramone’s lipstick covered grave to pay my respects for ALL the joy his music has, and continues to bring to my life.
So there you go…lots of stuff to mull over here…some would say WAY too much. But there’s going to be even more in 2010. There will be 36 Governor’s races next year. I hope to be deeply and legally involved in many of them, helping to insure that the VOICE, VALUE and VOTES of the sector are included in every discussion. To those ends, I’ll be back on the road on January 3rd, and I plan on breaking this years speaking record. Look for me. Follow my wandering ass on Twitter, Facebook or this blog. Visit my website for a list of my 2010 speaking gigs. Give me shout out if I roll through your town. We’ll grab a beer and throw rocks at cars.
So…until then…let’s end 2009 the way every Ramone’s songs did….with an intro to the next.
Man, what a year. All told, I think I passed 80 speeches this year, but I totally saved the best for last—in Dallas, speaking to the nonprofits of Texas at the One Star Foundation’s annual Governor’s Nonprofit Leadership Conference.
Now, I’m not gonna go into too much detail today. In fact, I’ll be back in a week or so with a Top Ten countdown of the baddest, boldest craziest, coolest moments of an insanely productive year….but for today, let me introduce you to two dynamic, young up-n-comers I hung with in Dallas.
The first is Erin Brackney, who works at the One Star Foundation. She planned and built the Texas Connector, a geo-map that is SO the future. I speak a lot about the power of turning next gen leaders LOOSE, and letting them apply what they learned in school (and behind the scenes after all those years of community service) and Erin is a classic example of this idea in action. Of course, it takes dynamic leadership to let go and give young leaders some room to roll, which is why I dig the One Star Foundation all the more. But I was completely unprepared for the cyber-skill set this young sister in bringing to the table. She’s got more than vision—she’s got the moxie it takes to make her vision REAL. Please check out this revolutionary resource….and than ask her to help you build the same thing in your community.
I also hung with a GREAT friend, Mando Rayo, out of Austin. Mando is a member of the YNPN network and works at the United Way in the capital city, but he’s been branching out. He’s developed a presentation that should be at EVERY conference—how to work with “New American” volunteers. This is SUCH a huge trend, and I was blown away by what I learned during his break-out. Seriously…if you’re planning a conference in 2010—you NEED to reach out and get Mando in front of your peeps. I guarenteee he”ll impress.
Anyway…I’ll be back soon….but before I blow, I want to give serious props to my friends in Texas. I’ve been working there for decades now, and visited almost every corner. I love that state, and you all treated my like a king!!! So mad props and thanks to Dallas, Amarillo, Lubbock, Corpus, Houston, Austin, Plano, Denton, Laredo, San Antonio, El Paso and everyplace in between.
”Whenever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, I’ll be there. Whenever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy, I’ll be there . . . . I’ll be in the way guys yell when they’re mad an’-I’ll be in the way kids laugh when they’re hungry an’ they know supper’s ready. An’ when our folks eat the stuff they raise an’ live in the houses they build-why, I’ll be there.” Tom Joad–The Grapes of Wrath
This week, in a toss off reply to a tweet from my friend Andrea Snyder, who was suggesting that I was on the road all the time, I jokingly likened myself to Tom Joad, whose book-closing commitment to justice and American ideals remains one of the only moments during my entire 12 years of formal education in which I stopped reading, sat back and let the warm rush of true inspiration heat my blood.
Now, I’m no Tom Joad….but over the last few days, I’ve been thinking….are we, America’s nonprofits, the new Okies?
Underpaid laborers who harvest the sweet fruits of American philanthropy?
Economically beaten down or threatened when we step forward, or try to organize into a more potent force?
Shut down when we speak truth to power?
Getting our “grants/goods” from the store owned by the very companies that create the problems we seek to solve?
Dramatic…sure, and let this be a warning to all those who want to step onto the long road—it is dramatic. You see it everyday….in all those airport bars and shelter basements, backstage green rooms and threadbare pantries, in all those nursing homes and co-op farmer’s markets, in all those recovery centers and rest stops…and it gives you no choice but to really think things through. You HAVE to. You see the people who are left out. You see the lines. You see the great programs that are just squeaking by, one grant away from closing, when they should be thriving. You hear the tales of endless fundraising and backbreaking effort. You smell the sweat and fear–literally. Your pulse races when you hear the idealism of a generation who long to serve but can’t live on the pay. You feel it in every audience. You see it in their eyes and the eyes of those they serve…and it makes you think, HARD, about where WE are, how WE got here, and most importantly, how WE can work together to get OUT.
So…do me a favor today. Join me, if only for a minute, and think about it. Really. Stop and think about your work, my work, OUR work and wonder, if like countless others who eventually figured out the rules and then used them to change the game….whether today–National Philanthropy Day–is gonna be the day when more us of decide to step forward, together, than pretend we can keep doing this the way we have.
Just closing up the 2009 Purpose Prize where I spent just a few quick seconds with Civic Ventures founder Marc Freedman and CEO John Gompers. These are BOTH seriously righteous dudes, who have been pushing the “how do we re-define aging in America” envelope for a full decade, and this annual gathering of profoundly engaged elders is the manifestation of their vision. I posted a TON of tidbits via twitter (@robertegger) and I’ll certainly be posting more on this later….but here’s a fast video as I get ready to fly back home.
5. Following a keynote at the Voice09 Conference for the Social Enterprise Coalition of the United Kingdom (where the barrier between politics and nonprofits is less pronounced and social enterprise is way out front), I penned this op-ed for Scotland’s 
Dee Dee Ramone’s lipstick covered grave to pay my respects for ALL the joy his music has, and continues to bring to my life.
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