Money Isn't Medicine When It's Yoked to Power
So philanthropy must divorce this relationship
We continue talking about money this week — this time looking at the bigger picture. In our capitalistic society, money is almost always yoked to power and control. This means it very often fails to be a force for good. And many times, it ends up being a force for ill. How can we change this?
We’ll look at a specific story unfolding right now, in the field of nonprofits and philanthropy. And we’ll look at how we can start to change this….
For You: Today’s Main Course
Sometimes, it takes a minute to see the danger.
In the past couple weeks, the field of nonprofits/philanthropy has been ever more transfixed by a story that seemed narrow at first, as it involved just one org…
…and that, as it has unfolded, has alarmed more and more of us who’ve been able to see its far-reaching and dangerous consequences.
First, we heard that the federal Department of Justice was indicting the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), on charges that it had defrauded donors for failing to disclose that money would be paid to informants inside extremist groups.
Given that this work is an inherent part of this org’s efforts to combat White Supremacy and racism since it was founded in 1971 on the heels of, and as an extension of, the Civil Rights era — something which donors are explicitly supporting — the group’s interim president and CEO appeared in federal court yesterday (Thursday, May 7th) to plead not guilty.
A nonprofit indicted by the federal government for pursuing its mission?
That’s a problem.
If the current federal government weren’t so lacking in credibility, you might be worried that the org was going astray of its purpose.
However, let’s acknowledge that that’s highly unlikely to be the case here.
A government that has been committed to growing and enshrining White Supremacy in all the ways it can has of course seen the SPLC as a target for a while now.
And it gets worse.
The SPLC’s day in court is far off, at this point.
And yet, a serious threat to its viability has already loomed.
Last week, donor-advised funds (DAFs) affiliated with Charles Schwab, Fidelity, and Vanguard cut off their DAF-holders’ ability to give to the SPLC.
What does this mean?
In simple terms, this means that donors who had put their dollars into these funds with the intention of using them philanthropically — and who wanted to support the SPLC, maybe especially because it was having to deal with this lawsuit! — were not allowed to do so.
This is a rude awakening.
Many have been sounding the alarms about the downsides of DAFs for years now, for many reasons, and Inequality.org shared a huge one, one that’s especially concerning when we see stories like this one unfolding:
Giving USA, the gold standard of reporting on national charitable giving, said that individuals donated over $319 billion to charity in 2022. This means that the $86 billion that DAFs received made up a full 27 percent of individual giving that year.
More than a fourth!
Giving to DAFs now accounts for more than a fourth of individual giving annually, and, as Inequality.org writes, “Commercial DAF sponsors… totally dominate the field,” receiving more than two-thirds of the total for all DAFs.
So.
We’ve got more than a fourth of philanthropic giving by individuals going into these funds. These gifts are counted as “charitable” and given a corresponding tax break. And then, sometimes they take years to find their way back into the communities that need them, since there’s no time-limit on how long funds can just sit there.
And just as disturbing, in cases like this, even if donors want to direct funds to the SPLC, they will not be allowed to.
In my experience, many people misunderstand the reality of DAFs. And it takes a dramatic situation like this to really get it.
Once funds have been submitted to these accounts, they no longer belong to the donor. They have been donated, “charitably” — and thus donors get the tax break at that point. Now, they may “advise” the fund-holding institutions about where to disburse those dollars. But the institution has ultimate say on where funds go.
The potential conflict here rarely rears its head.
Most often, donors recommend donations to nonprofits… and the money is dutifully disbursed by these institutions within a few days.
I think this is why many people misunderstand DAFs.
In many situations, they really do seem like the “philanthropic savings accounts” that many people like to refer to them as.
But no.
They are not that.
Donors to DAFs don’t ultimately have as much power and control over their philanthropic dollars as many of them believe they do. Legally, they are just advising someone else who now owns and controls the money.
In the past couple weeks, that reality has been laid bare.
Here we’ve got an org continuing to advance the aims of the Civil Rights Movement… being attacked by a federal government openly hostile to those aims… and then having significant funding — its very lifeblood — withheld by massive financial institutions invested in the status quo… despite individual donors’ express wishes.
This is not philanthropy, in the truest meaning of that word!
Not at all.
This is not love and care for our fellow humans.
This is not funding going for the greater good.
This is not justice.
Contrastingly, the idea of “money as medicine” burst into the popular imagination in 2018, when Edgar Villanueva published Decolonizing Wealth.
I think part of why this idea resonated so much with all of us in nonprofits and philanthropy is because we had seen this being true. Often! But we might not have used that exact language to describe it. And the language was so beautiful.
Medicine.
Money could be medicine.
As in, money could heal us.
As in, money could heal us of what ails us.
I know you’ve seen this happen!
I have too…
… when someone is hungry, and another person offers them money so they can buy food, and their hunger is satiated…
… or when a person is sick and needs treatment, and money pays for the treatment to heal their disease…
… or when someone is without a home, and they are given the money to secure the home they need.
Given that we’ve mostly eschewed a barter economy in our modern day… and invented this thing called money to stand in for value, allowing us to more simply trade value for value with others… we’ve imbued money with meaning that you wouldn’t think some basic paper and metal (or, let’s be honest, mostly ones and zeros on a screen, these days) would have.
Yet...
… the meaning is created…
… by what money makes possible.
Money allows us to eat.
Money provides us housing.
Money provides our bodies the care they need.
Money allows us to pursue things that bring us joy.
Money can be medicine, for sure.
But when it’s yoked to power?
Not-so-much.
Power isolates.
Power dominates.
Power corrupts human relationships.
And when those who hold power are allowed to control where money can move, who can or cannot receive it, and what it can facilitate and create…
… money is no longer medicine.
You can see this dynamic in play through the situation we’re talking about today. And I could give so many other examples… but I have a sneaking suspicion you can already see it… and I imagine you have many examples of this reality yourself.
The crux, here:
If we want money to actually be medicine…
… we will need to divorce it from power.
We’ll need to freely release it into communities.
We’ll need to let it flow towards justice.
We’ll need to let it rush to suffering.
We’ll need to let it be directed by our hearts, easily and swiftly exchanging hands among us, moving at the speed of love and care.
We’ll need to let go of control over it.
Can you see this happening?
If so, how?
If not, why?
Community-Weaving for Fundraisers
Our first meet-up is NEXT WEEK! Now is the time to reach out and connect with others. When you’re embedded in supportive community, even the most difficult things don’t seem so hard. Your community is waiting for you!
Advice when you need it. Been-there, done-thats. Commiseration. Support. A place to vent. Guidance and mentoring.
All of this, and more, is what I anticipate happening at Community-Weaving for Fundraisers. Just community-based fundraisers. Gathering for (virtual) lunch together. Twice a month. Year-round. Chatting and supporting each other via WhatsApp in between lunches. Being there for each other.
All you need to do is show up, and be present… while I guide, facilitate, organize, and create the container.
Conversation: Your Response
Got more to say? Visit the comments section! I really want to know what you think about this topic! Let’s start to discuss how this could happen….
Check out these past For the Love of Humanity Podcast episodes!
I’m not saying but I’m just saying that, despite how much of a folk hero he is, Vu Le’s episode on the For the Love of Humanity Podcast has not been the number-one-downloaded since it aired.
That honor has belonged to The Nonprofit Industrial Complex Must Be Composted, since it first aired. That one obviously hit a nerve with y’all!
But…
Slowly but surely, Vu’s episode — Vu Le Enters His Elder Era: Wisdom Incoming! — has been gaining downloads… and it is now TIED for first.
Will Vu pull ahead??
Only time will tell.
Other good episodes to check out right now, before the next episode airs:
Philanthropy’s Final Frontier: Time to Go Deeper Together
Why Does Fundraising Feel So Bad?
Practice: Make It Yours
Reflect on ways that you have conflated power and control with money.
Where can you start to disrupt this relationship?
In yourself?
With others?
Start practicing this disruption now, in your own world… so that this disruption starts to seem more possible on a larger scale.
Inspiration: Wisdom to Mull Over
If we could use money in a different way, towards a healing, reparative purpose, then money actually can be sacred, something that could be used as medicine.
- Edgar Villanueva
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