NonprofitAF

Let's reclaim our vision for the amazing society we can build from the ashes Hi everyone, I’ve been stress-eating chocolate, so I’m not sure how coherent this post will be. Besides the general state of the world, I also have my book launching next week with an in-person event ...

“I don’t want the asshole tech-bros' sad dystopian visions to be the dominant ones. I want the visions I’ve read about on countless nonprofits’ websites.”

Let’s be less nice while we fight against fascism Hi everyone, thank you so much for your patience as we transitioned this website to Ghost. Look how cool it is! Thank you to the amazing Carissa and Stacy of stacynguyen.com for their work. A few chan...

“we’ve tried being nice and cordial and courteous and diplomatic. If anything, our white moderate tendency to gravitate toward civility has strengthened and enabled fascists.”

A message and a Lesson from Norway 🇳🇴 💙💙

Our work is not done…

📌 Sinclair Broadcast Group is still refusing to air Jimmy Kimmel Live! on its ABC affiliates nationwide.

Folks, you know what to do.

Google Sinclair-owned networks and channels in your city and act accordingly.

Urging ALL Californians to vote YES ON 50. Take those five Republican seats without an OUNCE of mercy, just like they did to us in Texas! Be our get back!!!!!

Let’s try to be nicer to ourselves and one another while we fight against fascism Hi everyone, a couple of announcements. First, if you’re in Seattle, please come to the book launch event I’m having on October 14th from 6pm to 8pm at Centilia Cultural Center. Everyone is so stresse...

“negative emotions get misdirected to ourselves and the people closest to us, often without our being conscious of it. This is a tactic and goal of fascism, as a populace that is constantly on edge and emotionally dysregulated is easier to control.”

Netanyahu: ‘These So-Called Genocide Experts Have Probably Never Committed A Genocide In Their Lives’ JERUSALEM—In response to an independent United Nations inquiry concluding that Israel is committing an ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a defiant...

Netanyahu: ‘These So-Called Genocide Experts Have Probably Never Committed A Genocide In Their Lives’

Donor engagement and the retail-ification of equity and justice Hi everyone, buckle up (though, at this point in the rapid collapse of civilization, I’m not sure any of us can be more buckled than we already are). Whenever I talk about donors, people get weirdly d...

“All of us—nonprofits leaders, donors, funders, volunteers, clients—are like people living together in a village that is half on fire and rapidly spreading. In this situation, a retail-like mentality would be silly, if not downright destructive.”

We Must Not Posthumously Sanitize Charlie Kirk's Hateful Life Influential anti-LGBTQ+ activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated on Wednesday. While condemning violence is something most can get behind, sanitization of his hate has gone too far.

There has been a rush among centrists like Gavin Newsom and Ezra Klein to brush over the hateful life of Charlie Kirk and valorize the man.

Let me be clear, killing Charlie Kirk was wrong and abhorrent.

We must condemn murder without sanitizing a man who built his empire on hate.

My latest piece.

Donors and funders, instead of freaking out or being numb, here are things you can do to fight fascism: Hi everyone, I just attended a wonderful retreat put on by Solidaire Network, a network of progressive funders, donors, and movement leaders. The attendees all seemed so attractive, but that could be ...

“it is better to take any action at this point than to remain frozen while fascists and their enablers mobilize so effectively”

Jesus Christ, I don’t have time for this. If you want to help nonprofits be more effective when they’re most needed, then help remove barriers preventing them from doing their work. But I need to stop arguing with right-wing trolls who want things to remains status quo. So goodbye.

My whole personality is actually just pictures of baby animals. But yeah, go ahead and help maintain crappy funding and HR practices that make it hard for nonprofits to address problems in society

Yes, it’s hyperbole. Please read the rest of the blog. I mentioned that nonprofits do vitally important work, include suicide prevention, domestic violence prevention, etc., and instead of being able to focus on their work, they’re forced to waste time on pointless grant proposals

Please check the date of publication. This post was published August 25th. And also, there are orgs working to end gun violence, and I’d rather they focus on that than waste hundreds of hours each year on grant applications. Funders’ endless requirements prevent nonprofits from doing their work.

Annual performance reviews suck. Here’s how to make them better. Or maybe we should just ditch them. In my several decades as a nonprofit professional, there are a couple of harrowing occasions that have seared themselves into my soul, causing me to wake up in the middle of the night, filled with rag...

“Is there a never-ending apocalypse of pandemic/fascism/g3nocide that you maybe should account for [in the annual review process]?”

Misdemeanor Sandwich (feat. John Fugelsang) Podcast Episode · The Daily Beans · 08/29/2025 · 55m

NEW: The DoJ fails to get a grand jury to indict sandwich guy, blue city mayors are assembling a united front against Trump, Lisa Cook fights back, and Jon Ossoff's GOP challenger says Trump is in the Epstein files on a hot mic. Free to listen and subscribe! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Funders, please stop trying to be unique snowflakes Hi everyone, if you’ve been having issues getting email notices of new blog posts, my apologies. I’m still tweaking the system and possibly might need to switch to another platform, because this has b...

“When looked through the lens of harm to nonprofits and the community, “when you’ve seen one foundation, you’ve seen one foundation” stops being a charming joke and starts being enraging.”

How to stay motivated when everything is on fire and you look and feel like crap Hi everyone, I just got back from a whirlwind summer in Japan and Vietnam, where I—and I didn’t think this would happen again for me—fell in love. With not having to work. Long walks on the beach—with...

“Be in nature: Go for a nice long hike in the forest. Leave your phone behind. Walk backwards so nobody can trace you. Learn to forage for roots and berries. Befriend forest creatures for company. Stay in the forest a few years until things get better.”

Instructions on not giving up: Let’s conserve our energy for the battles ahead ***Vu’s new book, Reimagining Nonprofits and Philanthropy: Unlocking the Full Potential of a Vital and Complex Sector, comes out October...

“our sector is more relevant than ever. Which means we need to figure out how to sustain ourselves”

Generational change is coming: Since Zohran Mamdani won on Tuesday night, more than 1100 young people have reached out to @runforsomething.net to explore a run for local office -- one of our biggest spikes of the year yet.

Brutally honest answers to 15 pointless questions our sector keeps asking itself ***Vu’s new book, Reimagining Nonprofits and Philanthropy: Unlocking the Full Potential of a Vital and Complex Sector, comes out October...

“6.’How do we tell better stories to engage donors?’ We don’t. Donors need to grow the hell up and stop expecting to be fed palatable narratives about injustice before they’re motivated to do something about it.”

The Tide is Surging: The No King Protests and the Beginning of the End of Fascism in the US Hi everyone. Thank you for all your support when I announced the publication date of my new book last week....

“The No King rally was a good reminder that we, the people on the side of equity and justice, far outnumber the bullies and bigots who are currently in power. We will outflank them. We will outlast them. We will rebuild what they are trying to destroy and create a stronger, better society.”

Right now, Dems are hiding in their offices, scrolling their phones fearfully, wondering "how are voters going to feel about the National Guard being deployed?"

The right, meanwhile, is vigorously *attempting to shape* how voters feel about it, filling every medium with coordinated propaganda.

Vu’s new book comes out on October 14th. Pre-order your copy today! Hi everyone, after months of being holed up in my room writing every weekend, and muttering and cursing to myself,...

“It’s kind of a book I wish had been available when I was just starting my career in the sector, a no-BS, equity-grounded guide that synthesizes all the main points I’ve been ranting about over the past couple of decades, but organized into cohesive chapters”

Funder-inflicted trauma and how it affects nonprofit leaders and our sector Hi everyone. Before we get started on today’s topic, happy Pride! To all my colleagues who are lesbian, gay, (fellow)...

“decades of conditional support, short-term funding, and paternalism from funders and donors have created a pattern of harm that has profoundly shaped the psyche of nonprofit leaders and thus the entire sector. I’m calling it Funder-Inflicted Layered Trauma and Helplessness (FILTH)”

Today is the day we honor those who died overseas stopping the same thing many of you are ignoring here at home--fascism.

Let’s support the arts like democracy depends on it—because it does! Hi everyone, if you’re free on June 5th at 10am Pacific Time, my friend and colleague, Ananda Valenzuela, will be...

“It breaks isolationism, builds community, and allows us to dream of just and equitable futures. All of that makes fascism harder to sustain.”

Thursdays at 7pm, Americans Are Taking To The Streets to Fight Fascism The Simple Weekly Ritual Anyone Can Do—And It Works

substack.com/inbox/post/1...

These charges are clearly unfounded. Representative McIver was exercising her legally protected authority as a member of Congress to conduct oversight of a detention center that receives millions of taxpayer dollars.