Current e-Journal
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November 26, 2024
What if it’s really just about LOVE?
In this week’s Systems Change Newsletter…
- Invitations and Announcements
- Catalytic Thinking Exercise: What if it’s really just about LOVE?
- Resources to Further Your Practice
Invitations and Announcements
Nonprofit Killer Bill in the U.S. Congress
Before we dive into our normal newsletter, we are going to do something we rarely do: We’re urging our U.S. readers to call / email your senators right now.
The United States Senate is taking up HR 9495, a bill that has become known as the Nonprofit Killer Bill. Under the guise of “anti-terrorism,” this bill gives one person - the Secretary of the Treasury - unilateral authority to terminate the tax exemption for any organization he (and you know it will be a “he”) determines to be supporting terrorism. And if you think that’s not you, think again…
- Do you work at a food bank that provides food to refugees?
- Do you help folks who are indigenous? Or focus on people of color in your work?
- Do you work for an international aid organization?
- Do you support the work of Doctors without Borders?
- Do you work at a university that teaches the history of the Middle East? Or where your professors appear on the news about current issues?
- Do any of your team or board members speak out on social media about the horrors of genocide around the world?
- Do you work for economic justice, social justice, racial justice - in any way?
- Are you a member of a union, where going on strike could be designated a terrorist activity?
The senate will take this up before the end of this year. This is not about Democrats vs. Republicans. This is about our communities. It is about all of us. Remind Republican senators of what happened when the IRS targeted Tea Party organizations several years ago.
If you need a starting point for emailing or calling, this guide from Independent Sector is a good start. The time for taking action is right now.
And when you do write to them, you can practice the exercise in today’s newsletter below!
Catalytic Thinking Exercise:
The Power of Love in Social Change
It’s almost December, the beginning of everything that is “end of year.” The holidays. End-of-year fundraising and bookkeeping. This is the season that turns up the stress level on the normal busyness so many of us feel.
That is why we are excited about this week’s podcast interview, as Shiree Teng talks about doing our work and living our lives through the lens of love.
We are so accustomed in this Western culture to words that are deemed to be acceptable in a business setting. Love is definitely not among those words. You may even have bristled when you saw the subject line of this week’s newsletter. Some people may have actually chosen not to read this week’s newsletter, because of that subject line.
But the reality is that we are hard-wired for connection. Love is therefore our superpower.
In the podcast, you’ll hear Shiree talk about a fundraising team who changed their metrics from measuring money to measuring love.
She talks about how everything changed - from reduced turnover (a big problem in fundraising, especially among women of color) to yes, the amount of money they raised.
And it all happened because they moved their focus from money - where connection and relationship are seen as means to a financial end - to focusing on those relationships as the end result themselves.
This isn’t some sort of magic. It’s what happens when we remember the whole basis of Catalytic Thinking: Our thoughts create the actions that will determine our results. And the most graceful way to shift our thoughts is to shift the questions those thoughts are answering.
As you head into this time with family…
As you head into year-end fundraising…
As you head into the season of parties and networking…
What might all of that look like if you thought about it through the lens of love?
Try This
This week’s exercise is simple – just one question. But we’re pretty sure that one question will make you stop and think…
For the very next thing you are about to do after reading this newsletter,
what could that thing look like if you thought about it through the lens of love?
- The email you are about to send
- The conversation you are about to have
- The holiday plans you are making
- The fundraising letter you are writing
It’s so easy to get wrapped up in the busyness of the holiday season and the end-of-year at work. What if we slowed down and thought about the person we’re sending that email to? What if we took a breath, and considered, “In what ways can I show this person that I care about them? That our connection is what matters?”
If our thoughts create our actions, what if our first thought was, “This is someone I care about,” instead of “I need something from this person”?
This can be especially meaningful when thinking about someone you do NOT feel love for – maybe even the opposite. Perhaps that’s someone you are angry with. Or maybe it’s someone in your family who votes differently than you, with whom your main goal is to try and avoid an argument.
What might those conversations look like through the lens of love?
Hildy often talks about what happened when she and her brother were working to settle their mom’s estate. Those situations are always ripe for argument.
But Hildy and her brother decided that the most important result of all those conversations would be that 30 years from now, they still love each other. That one decision changed the tone of everything.
So this week, whether you are celebrating Thanksgiving or just getting ready for all the craziness that is year-end, ask yourself…
What would those tasks look like through the lens of love?
And if you want some further insights, listen to Hildy’s conversation with Shiree. You will instantly see why the questions of Catalytic Thinking are rooted in inclusion, compassion, and yes, love.
Resources to Further Your Practice:
- WATCH: What does data look like through an indigenous lens? With the words of today’s newsletter still ringing in your ears, it may just look like love in action. See it here…
- LISTEN: What does it take to actually create change – the kind of transformational change we all dream of? That is the question we’re tackling at the Creating the Future podcast. Find all episodes here…
- READ: Are you new to Catalytic Thinking? This 1-pager is a great place to start your journey of asking more powerful questions. Here are the questions…
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