How do we support organization's that work for social justice?  Going to the same usual suspects of foundations has many limitations.  Mostly the attention deficit disorder of such foundations, that fund you one year, and then want to move on to the next new thing.  At best, they provide a few years funding and then expect you to bake cookies to make up thousands of dollars.  Not terribly strategic, but I am afraid we need to stop looking to these foundations to change any time soon.   There might be a better way.

A lot of organizations are looking for “earned income” — like businesses, and some businesses are looking for a bottom line, or “bottom lines” that are more than making money.

Such earned income should be consistent with the organization’s mission.  How about growing and drying tomatoes (like Jessie Jones does, in Organic Gardening magazine) and selling little jars for $6. Maybe the Food Project could do this. 

The National Organizers Alliance receives some income, although not enough, from its pension/retirement program, which helps organizers all over the country plan for retirement.  But, to deal with the law and the details, NOA needs to implement a national payroll system to ensure compliance with the complex pension reporting rules.  Like any business, you still have to execute, and the devil is still in the details.  NOA can help organizers and bring in steady income to support its organization, but only with the right technology and information systems.

On the business side, William Shutkin, a recent Boston Globe op-ed piece, talks about how business has to “evolve.”  In the past, business used philanthropy to siphon off potential opposition from social justice groups. The companies themselves had only one goal: to make as much money as possible — even if that meant ruining the environment and workers’ lives.  Now business, Shutkin says, can — or should — pursue justice, not thru philanthropy, but thru the business itself.

Meanwhile, non-profits, can pursue business ventures that dovetail with their social justice missions to provide sustainable income — as opposed to pursuing the fickle foundations.

If business is going to be a power to good, it is going to have to re-think its bottom line.  If social justice non—profits are going to be around to pursue justice, they are going to have to be more business-like in earning income.