6 Tips on How to Avoid Being Screwed by a Non-Profit
youngist:
By Jade(d)
So you’ve just graduated from college and you want to change the world. Good for you. The non-profit sector seems like a natural place for a justice-minded person such as yourself, and nonprofits are almost always hiring because the turnover rate is so high. But you may find the social justice industry to be… a little unjust. Here are a few tips and tricks for how to avoid being exploited by a nonprofit.
- Don’t work at one. Seriously. Working at a non-profit generally involves at least some level of exploitation. (When was the last time you saw a non-profit with a union?) If this doesn’t deter you, figure out what you’re willing to give up: Is it sleep? Weekends? Seeing your friends? Most non-profit workers do not work 9-5. Working nights and weekends is common. Paid overtime is not. Non-profits tend to make you feel like if you are not willing to work 24/7 then you are not “down for the cause.” That’s bullshit. Don’t ever let anyone make you feel like you’re not “down enough” because you are not willing to sacrifice your well-being for “the movement.” People who don’t take care of themselves burn out and often become jaded and bitter. You can’t sustain “the movement” if you don’t sustain yourself.
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My name is Aric McBay. I’m the primary author of the book Deep Green Resistance and was (rather briefly) one of the original people behind the organization which Be Scofield writes about on your website.
You mention in your piece that I’m a founder, but what you probably don’t know is that I left the organization at the beginning of 2012 after a trans inclusive policy was cancelled by Derrick Jensen and Lierre Keith. Many good people and good activists left the organization for that reason.
I find these transphobic attitudes to be disgusting and deeply troubling, and it bothers me a lot to have any past association with people promoting transphobia.
For me, trans rights and trans inclusion are fundamental to building effective movements and to building a world worth living in. Speaking as the main author of the book that inspired the organization in the first place: they are most definitely my core values.
And transphobia—like racism and sexism and classism and homophobia—is a poison that those in power use to destroy movements and ruin lives. When faced with such poisons, who needs COINTELPRO?
Solidarity between movements is the only hope we have. I would appreciate it if you would mention this as an addendum on your piece, because I want to make it clear to people that I, and the vast majority of radical environmentalists, fully support trans rights and trans inclusion. I don’t want to allow a few outliers to drive wedges between movements that can and should support each other.
And you can quote me on that.
In solidarity,
You’re under no obligation to be the same person you were five minutes ago.
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Grow every second (via 6-666)
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