“We’re not an association that investigates sexual harassment. We raise funds for animals.”
That’s how Erika Brunson, a board member of the Humane Society of the United States, defended her vote to keep the organization’s beleaguered CEO, Wayne Pacelle, after several female employees came forward with detailed accounts of how Pacelle had sexually harassed them at work. Within 24 hours of the board’s vote to retain Pacelle, he resigned, and so did Brunson.
Pacelle has denied wrongdoing, but his departure was spurred, in large part, by a public outcry from major donors to the organization, including foundations and corporate-giving officers who quickly spoke out in the media about their intention to discontinue their funding.
They were wise to do so. Philanthropists have a right to expect that organizations they support will embody the values of their mission, even when those values may not be an explicit part of a nonprofit’s mission statement. In fact, the Humane Society example shows us that engaged donors can not only succeed in helping organizations do the right thing but can also help change the way the public thinks about critical issues that we all have a responsibility to address.
The #MeToo and Times Up movements have made clear that nonprofits, just like other organizations in society, face gender and harassment problems. It is now past time that those who support the important work of nonprofit organizations insist that those groups commit to fighting injustice everywhere — including in their own organizations. By extension, charity donors can help raise awareness of issues like workplace harassment and discrimination and do much to foster change.
Linking Internal and External Values
Our organization has seen the power of melding donor interest on a range of issues because we work to promote animal welfare and end sexual harassment, along with a host of other efforts to combat social and economic injustice, protect the earth’s sustainability, and challenge predatory corporate conduct and government abuses.
We have also witnessed how essential it is to be sure our internal culture is in sync with the positions we promote as part of our social-change mission.
We see every day how issues overlap, and a driving tenet of our work is the recognition that the violence in so many of America’s systems — such as food and public education systems — are intrinsically connected and that winning progress in one will bring about more progress in the others. That’s why we believe organizations seeking justice on behalf of one constituency — whether human, animal, or environmental — must also be committed to embodying common values like dignity, responsibility, and accountability in all aspects of their work, including the work culture we foster for our co-workers and colleagues.
For example, our Food Project represents farmers, rural communities, workers, and animal-welfare advocates who all share the goal of a food system that treats our environment, our animals, and the farmers who are stewards of both with care and respect. At the same time, we also represent people who have been the targets of sexual violence, gender-based harassment, and bullying.
Philanthropists who make so much good work possible through their generosity and passions increasingly care about these intersections of missions, and they want to support efforts to build coalitions and work together toward shared goals.
In just a few examples of this power of partnership, the NAACP has been an outspoken proponent of LGBTQ equality, and local environmental groups in rural America are increasingly working with people of color to combat the harmful effects of factory farms that pollute low-income neighborhoods.
Questions Donors Should Ask
The impact of embracing shared values is real, and foundations and philanthropists now recognize that their gifts can be further maximized by organizations that see themselves, and operate, as part of a large community of nonprofits that believe in a better, more just world. By talking about their values when they make their gifts, donors can also promote change on other issues, too, and play an instrumental role in winning battles beyond the scope of work their dollars are earmarked to support.
Nonprofits can and should both pursue their missions and embody their values beyond the specific words of their mission statement. This holistic approach to mission also demands reflecting those values inwardly. Donors should feel comfortable that they are supporting a mission they care about and an organization with a commitment to upholding those values in all aspects of its work and with all communities with which it interacts.
That’s not too much to ask, and donors should be asking the organizations they support about these issues more and more.
No organization can truly achieve its mission if its leaders perpetuate an unjust workplace. Supporters want to know — and should feel confident that they do know — that their money is going to efforts to produce change, not to enabling toxic behavior. At the end of the day, all nonprofits must achieve their missions and adhere to values that respect everyone who is part of the larger world of positive advocacy.
Let’s not forget the lessons of situations like those at the Humane Society. We must all work to empower philanthropists to ask questions about how the organizations they support treat the people who do the work.
Jessica Culpepper is a lawyer at Public Justice’s Food Project, and Adele P. Kimmel is a senior lawyer at Public Justice who focuses on gender-based harassment, sexual violence and bullying in schools.