Why I Work With Non-Profits

With so many alternatives to working for non-profits, why do I work with non-profits (note: I work with not for non-profits, they’re my clients not my employers). This post is as much about you as it is about me. Why’s that?

This is about making a difference in the world. It’s about the organizations we choose to work with. It’s about whether to start a non-profit and whether it’s helpful to donate to them. As folks concerned with making the world a better place we–you and me–are serious about looking at the ways we go about creating that change. Through the political process? Through charity? Through nonviolent direct action? Through armed revolution?

Why do I work with non-profits? Because non-profits create tangible social good and meet real immediate needs.

My friend Shane Claiborne co-founded The Simple Way, a counter-cultural Christian community seeking to embody social justice. One of our their principles is an economy of enough. To that end, Shane only made $9,600 last year (bear with me on this story).

When I was talking with Shane a few years ago about working for The Simple Way, we both realized I would need to make more than $9,600. Not everyone can live the way Shane does. Shane lives in a house owned by The Simple Way and spends much of his time out on speaking engagements, where he is housed and fed. I was their director of web & communications so no speaking gigs for me.

What can Shane Claiborne’s story teach us about non-profits?

While Shane’s example of living out an economy of enough is a helpful model for us, some folks don’t have enough right now.

And that’s why I work with non-profits. Because while we’re out there creating our own businesses to find financial freedom and being the change we wish to see in the world, there are people who have pressing needs right now.

Sanctuary Collective receives countless messages from young adults living and organizing in Christian communities. Here’s one example from a student at a Christian college.

i am a christian, and i am gay [or at least figuring that out which is just as bad inthe eyes of the church] and i am super interested in dialoguing with people who understand or are at least open to engaging both of those areas of my life.  i also have  a heart for ministry/outreach/simply loving people and would love to find out about ways i can help others in my situation not feel so alone.

We were able to provide support for this student and other LGBT students on campus. They were able to talk openly about their sexuality and their faith for the first time. Some of the students would stop by Sanctuary Collective’s open hours just to exist in a space that honored them, so burnt out and stressed out by constantly hiding. I hear from young adults over and over again that meeting other queer Christians through Sanctuary Collective saved their faith and helped restore their sanity. A student once confided to me that he finally secure and loved and acceptable as a gay man after talking with me. At the Sanctuary Collective Discipleship Program training weekend, I spoke with a high school student who was working on a community service project at the church where we gathered. This person shared that they felt themselves to be feminine and liked dressing and living as a woman, but that their conservative parents would never approve. In fact, this person was still thinking that maybe what they were doing–and who they were–was wrong. It was a solemn reminder that there are needs right now. And that we can meet them.

In New York City, I’ve participated in rallies and protests organized by non-profits who are lobbying for immigration reform and trans-inclusive policies. My friend Will O’Brien works at Project H.O.M.E. and is committed to undoing the systems that create homeless in the first place and also making sure everyone has a place to stay until that happens.

Yes, we need entrepreneurship as an act of resistance. Yes, we need to be the change we wish to see in the world. And yes, we need to take care of each other in the meantime.

That’s why I work with non-profits. What about you?