This is a tough time for everyone, let alone nonprofits. The strain on nonprofits is contained inside a larger national moment that shapes how people feel and how they relate to each other. We live in a divided country. Those divisions are creating great pain for many across this country.
However, I believe that nonprofits have a unique opportunity in front of us. And I want to hear what you think.
People want leaders who have a vision of the way forward in support of community. They want a playing field that is leveled and a world where a few don’t get to put their thumb on the scale in support of private ends. They want a system that sustains all of the people and the beauty of this earth — a true community that does not consider people and the planet expendable commodities but valuable community members.
In conversations across the country, you can hear the same longing. They want a sense that community is still possible.
No matter where you land on the political spectrum, community is a basic human need. Humans are social creatures by nature — we’re wired for social connection and cooperation.
If community is a basic human need, then the question becomes who is best positioned to protect it and help it grow. And that question leads us back to the nonprofit sector.
Nonprofits Produce Community
As nonprofits, we all have missions to serve our communities and make them stronger.
Whether your nonprofit’s mission focuses on art, faith, human rights, social services, veterans, theater, animals, the environment, or something else entirely, community is the reason for all of it.
In other words, nonprofits form the backbone of community. Nonprofits create community and support it. This is why nonprofits often feel like neutral ground. They hold space for people without demanding conformity — in fact we embrace the unifying truth that the diversity of our community is our strength.
When there is suffering and need, nonprofits don’t ask who you voted for, we ask how we can help.
Community is the mission.
Community Interrupts the Division Problem and Grows Understanding
Community itself does not guarantee unity or promise to erase division. It does not heal every fracture. Community creates a shared ground that people can stand on.
- A neighborhood land trust brings together residents who might disagree on many issues but can still protect shared green space.
- A school booster club gives parents with different backgrounds a reason to work together for students.
- A community garden nonprofit places people with different beliefs at the same table as they plan planting days and share harvests.
- A youth sports nonprofit puts families from different parts of town on the same team and helps them cheer for the same goal.
- A food pantry brings volunteers with different viewpoints into the same room and helps them focus on feeding their neighbors.
- A homeless shelter brings people with different values into shared service and helps them see their common care for others.
- A library foundation hosts programs that bring people of different ages into one room and helps them learn from one another.
All of these examples show nonprofits building the communities that help people overcome division through shared goals, shared interests, and shared activities they would not find on their own.
Community is how unity begins to grow.
Perhaps the way out of a divided country is for nonprofits to keep doing what they do best — building community. When we see others as neighbors, rather than someone behind the screen on social media, it is more likely that we can find common ground and see each other as human beings and at least begin a dialogue.
What do you think?
- Can nonprofits lead the way out of this dangerous time just by being ourselves — by doubling down on our actions, building the community?
- Or do you have other ideas?
This isn’t rhetorical. I would like to hear from you.
