How getting angry about financial inequity has focused and energized our work
Many years ago, I accepted one of the first job offers of my working life. I was so proud to have this job. It was the most I had ever earned, and even included some great benefits.
I had the job for a few years, then left. When I returned to visit a few years later, I found out that the man who took the same job after me had negotiated a salary that was ~50% higher than mine had been. 😢
At the time, I felt like such an idiot!
I’ve mostly stopped beating myself up about this one. (A lot of time has gone by!) But I still feel some anger: At myself for not knowing that I had the option to negotiate that job offer. Also at the system, which isn’t supporting each of us to fairly get what we need and deserve.
This hard experience -- and others -- cemented our commitment to financial transparency and equity.
ID: Blue background, a hand with yellow coins falling in and around the hand
Data points on financial (un)sustainability
I had a chance to reflect on all of this recently:
In September, Independent Sector released their research that 22% of nonprofit workers struggle financially. These workers “can’t afford the basics: housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, technology and taxes.”
Last month I participated in a consultants’ survey and follow up discussion sponsored by my colleague, Eva Meyers. Meyers surveyed consultants about their pricing and income and then held an online conversation to review and reflect on the results. The data indicated that consultants who responded to the survey are pricing their hours, days, and projects at widely varying rates. Many of the respondents are pricing their hours at a rate that cannot possibly give them the resources to meet their basic needs.
What data points on financial (un)sustainability would you add, based on your experience? In our work meeting hundreds of nonprofit leaders around the country, we have encountered many more examples.
Three levels of inequity
What does all of this mean?
We’re not individually demanding our value, AND
Organizations need to work towards equity and transparency, AND
Our current systems aren’t fair and equitable.
We get it - this is a lot. But it feels important, and a little hopeful, to name the inequities that weave through each of these levels - so we can address them and commit to solutions.
So that each may thrive
How do we build a nonprofit sector and nonprofit consulting sector in which each person is well-resourced and thrives?
The first step is to look at all of these levels. In our work, we acknowledge the systemic, organizational, and the individual dimensions of financial inequities. Here are questions to open up the conversation:
Individual: What stories about money, value, and worth guide my work as a leader, employee, or business person?
Organizational: What stories about money collectively guide the values of our organization, the decisions we make, and how we allocate our resources?
Systemic: How do we acknowledge and explore wealth gaps and gaps in opportunity to shift them?
In our work supporting organizations with strategic plans or governance processes, we often work through all of these levels. For example, we’ll share individual perspectives on work and compensation. We’ll ask leaders to explore how collective values inform compensation policies. And we’ll name the systemic challenges that impede progress.
Opening the conversation is the first step, which is also how we’ll start this series. In future installments, we look at each of these levels in more depth, exploring the concepts and providing more context so that we can each take steps towards a more equitable world.