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It is an honor and an opportunity and a challenge to be with you today, and share with you my thoughts on the work we do and the future we seek together to build. I want to thank INDEPENDENT SECTOR Chair John Seffrin for his support and his leadership and also the members of the Board and Peter Shiras for their outstanding stewardship of INDEPENDENT SECTOR during the transition. And I want especially to thank my colleagues with whom I work day in and day out, for their wisdom and their patience in educating me about our organization, about its mission and its method. Good ideas, good works, and, finally, good results don’t come out of thin air. They don’t spring, mature and fully formed, as Athena did from the brow of Zeus. All our work—our unending work on behalf of justice, on behalf of the realization of human potential, the creation of opportunity, the advancement of knowledge, the encouragement of creative expression, true harmony with nature, full participation in our society, on behalf of all the things we believe in and strive to achieve—all come first from ordinary men and women and some extraordinary. They don’t just happen; rarely are they accidents. Instead they derive from people of commitment and concern, people of devotion to the public weal. We depend on those people, and it is no small thing that so many such people are gathered here today.

It has been a characteristic of American democracy for more than two centuries that people working with others to create good ideas have produced good results. This is not to say that America has a patent on democratic values or a monopoly on civic participation. But since its birth as a nation, America has been an extraordinarily abundant and reliable wellspring of liberating ideas, ideas that have empowered both individuals and communities.

These days when the public mood is not at its most positive, when in so many ways we threaten to become a culture of complaint and indifference, it may be especially important to pause for a moment to search out the roots of those ideas of that remarkable empowerment.

I call your attention to the last of the rights enumerated in the First Amendment to the Constitution: “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” This is a tool of the people no less powerful than the more frequently cited rights of free speech, press, and the practice of religion. It enables us as individuals to act on our own or to come together in groups to oppose government policy, government behavior, or government excess. It also allows us to engage in a range of other behaviors that might include study, informing policymakers of community needs, and encouraging government to take positive action in response to what we shared with them. It was in its day and remains to this day—in many parts of the world—a revolutionary idea. Perhaps it is because I grew up in a country and a time when people were tortured and died to acquire that right, that I list it first.

Second, we have the familiar and insightful observation, most famously associated with a French aristocrat who came to America in 1831 to study prisons. Alexis de Tocqueville got distracted and studied democracy instead. If Americans, he wrote,

“…want to proclaim a truth or propagate some feeling by the encouragement of a great example, they form an association. In every case, at the head of any new undertaking, where in France you would find the government or in England some territorial magnate, in the United States, you are sure to find an association.” 1

The heart of his observation was that these associations, which he regarded as America’s most distinctive feature, were wholly voluntary. They required neither permission nor license from government. So the right to peaceable assembly was not only constitutionally enshrined, it was culturally and behaviorally integrated into the life of communities.

It is worth noting that America has been especially hospitable to practical idealists. Think of the 19th century abolitionists, think of the women leading the fight for the right to vote. All of these began as implausible conceptions and were viewed by people in high office and the general public as fringe notions—counter to political stability and even against the laws of nature. Yet all these activists were not content to dream their dreams alone; they took their dreams to the public square, they organized at high noon, and, for some slowly, for some swiftly, their dreams became the way of the land. Call them, if you will, wakeful dreamers, those who in every generation have refreshed and renewed the American dream.

The list is endless—the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, public education, the settlement movement, community hospitals, and in more recent times the civil rights movement, the women’s movement, the environmental movement, the gay rights movement, the organizing of migrant workers. There is also the reemergence of religious fundamentalists as a powerful political force. All these grew out of voluntary actions by private citizens working together. In some cases, we can name great leaders—like Martin Luther King, Jr., or Betty Friedan or Cesar Chavez or John Gardner. In other cases, the leaders are less well known. But we are enriched by the results nonetheless.

In every generation, and in every case, people came together voluntarily to right a wrong, to change a direction, to pursue justice, and again and again found that they could prevail. For them to prevail, for their dreams to become our realities, two conditions were present:

• First, they had a sense of purpose. They knew what they wanted, they believed that what they wanted was for the common good, they were intent on “righting a wrong,” and they were willing to fight and in some cases, as we know, to die to achieve their goals.
   
• And second, they found like-minded people of goodwill, who were convinced to ally themselves in the battle. Groups formed alliances and multiplied their strength. Brian O’Connell, our founding President and CEO, recognized the great value of collective voluntary action by a broad spectrum of organizations, and created a meeting ground for such action. This meeting ground he named INDEPENDENT SECTOR.

All these ideas and movements and activities that I have mentioned—and countless others—don’t mean that America has reached a moment of perfection. Far, very far, from it. And it is the unfinished business of freedom and of justice, of men and women in voluntary association, determined to raise the quality of life here and abroad, that brings us here today, that energizes us, that we find so compelling. For what is our purpose, if not to use the strength of democracy and the engagement of ordinary people and extraordinary leaders to build a society that makes possible the fulfillment of human potential?

If we are to be true to that purpose, if we are to be a meeting ground of practical idealists, of wakeful dreamers, then we must refresh—constantly refresh and renew—our sense of purpose. We must find ways to keep our focus sharp, to define—or rather refine—the values in which we believe and the strategies in which we engage so that our actions together enable individuals to reach their potential, protect those who are vulnerable, and see to it that all Americans can, and want to, participate in the affairs of their families, neighborhoods, states, country, and, for that matter, the world.

The words are simple; the challenge is daunting.

I don’t think we need to be gloomy about what our sector can do—in fact what we must do—to honor our various missions. To that end I want to talk to you about purpose—but purpose backed by optimism and confidence and a record of accomplishment on which we must build.

Which brings me to the heart of what I want to share with you today. Together our sector has a great deal of still unrealized strength and power. I think and I hope we all know that. What we sometimes do not know is how to translate the potential into the actual. And how to use the actual power to serve our collective missions.

What is the source of our strength, our power? First, we have strength in numbers. We are talking about hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people whose talents and activism are there to be tapped. While it is true that we have different interests—from supporting seniors to conserving wetlands, from criminal justice reform to improved public education, among so many more interests—what binds us all is our commitment to democratic values, our abiding belief in our capacity to help individuals and communities, and our willingness to build societies that will enable people to reach their potential and live well.

Inherent in that commitment is an embrace of America’s ongoing expansion as a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, and multi-cultural nation. We embrace it and welcome it. As John Gardner, founding Chair of INDEPENDENT SECTOR and America’s cherished citizen, wrote in praise of diversity, it is “not simply ‘good’ in that it implies breadth of tolerance and sympathy. A community of diverse elements has greater capacity to adapt and renew itself in a swiftly changing world.” 2

It is we who must help lead our nation to an understanding that our differences and distinctions are a source of strength, and for all the problems and challenges we encounter along the way, our diversity makes us stronger and connects us to the world outside through family, community, shared culture and shared values. There are new places to be set at the American table. And when we have gathered around that table to act in concert, to raise our voices on behalf of the values and concerns we share, we may be sure that we will be heard. We will be heard because of who we are and because of how we are; we will be heard because of the moral strength that is ours. For us, philanthropy—the love of humankind—is not merely an attitude, it is both a conviction and an action. For us, altruism is a habit of both the heart and the mind. For us, regard for the public weal, is a calling. And when we heed that call, we in turn call forth the best in others.

Finally, our power derives from our history of accomplishment—from our track record, if you prefer. I have mentioned some historic achievements. But it is important to keep before our own eyes—and the eyes of the general public and especially the eyes of legislators—the more recent accomplishments of our sector. I am thinking especially, but not exclusively, of ideas that have produced good results for children, families, seniors, the environment, and, more generally, liberty and justice in America. Some of these accomplishments are modest, some are major, and many are still unfolding. No matter. All together, they advance democratic values, they advance justice, and they advance human dignity. Consider:

• A nonprofit employment and training program called FEGS Health and Human Services System in New York City is enabling 1,200 persons with developmental disabilities to express themselves through art and earn a living by selling their art, thanks to a collaboration between FEGS and a large retailer of art posters.
   
• With support from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute is researching a method of injecting the deep seas with liquid carbon dioxide, a process that could help prevent the buildup of this greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.
   
• In Cleveland, older Americans are remaining in their own homes longer, by getting connected to services and people in their communities through an innovative concept called Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities. A nonprofit, Community Options of Cleveland, is incubating this idea within different ethnic and geographic neighborhoods.
   
• In Boston, Jobs for the Future, working with the Bill & Melinda Gates, Ford, and Rockefeller foundations and Carnegie Corporation of New York, launched the Early College High School Initiative in 150 new high schools. Over the next five years, these schools will give low-income, immigrant, and urban youth the opportunity to earn both a high school diploma and two years of college credit or an Associate’s degree while still enrolled in high school.

Each of these examples stands in the place of thousands of others and adds up to produce an extraordinary record of accomplishment that can address small pockets of need or produce large-scale change. Together, our society is slowly transformed, made more inclusive, more responsive, and more humane.

None of this should surprise us. Ours is a whole far, far greater than the sum of its parts. The good works that are the expression of our faith have a cumulative impact that keeps America fresh, that keeps America whole, that keeps the American dream alive.

If I am right in my assessment of our power, actual and potential, then we are bound to ask where that power, where our strength, should be directed. What problems, what issues, what challenges ought we be addressing today?

First, I believe we must act to preserve our capacity for service, and that means taking a hard look at our relationship to government—or I should say, governments in the plural. Government policy and priorities and funding have a profound effect on the lives of Americans and for that matter on the fortunes of other nations. Laws, regulations, and policy directions determine who is included and who is excluded, who is protected and who is prosecuted, who is assisted and who is left out. Nothing more clearly reflects our nation’s priorities and our values than our national and state and local budgets.

Right now about one dollar in three in the budgets of nonprofits comes from federal or state or local government. And among those nonprofits involved in health and human services, government’s share of the budget is more than one dollar in every two, about 52 percent. Because of recently enacted large tax cuts, a soft economy, the cost of foreign and domestic wars on terrorism, and growing entitlement programs, gigantic deficits are expected to loom over us for the next five to ten years. The government pie is shrinking—and legislators in Congress and the state houses are making choices, choices that often reflect their values and their priorities and that almost always reflect the new constricted economy.

We can spend our efforts quarreling with each other about which of our diverse interests—helping poor people, protecting the environment, fostering the arts, and so forth—which interests deserve to survive in a time of austerity. But that is the last thing we ought to be doing. We should not be clashing over crumbs. We should be fighting for substantial and sustainable support from the federal government and the states. That cannot be done simply by reallocating what is left of the pie. It is time for us to press for a larger pie—whether that includes rolling back the massive tax cuts of recent years or increasing public revenues in some other way. State legislatures and governors of both parties began down this road just a few months ago to close their state budget gaps. In the years ahead these all too modest efforts should be augmented as a result of actions focused on public office holders, both Republican and Democrat, mounted by all of our organizations, working together, regardless of our particular interests. This is not a partisan statement or even a political one. Members of both parties in a number of cities and state houses have been working toward such goals.

Second, we need to confront the challenge of disengaged community members. Yes, it is true—and good news indeed—that many people are volunteering. When a woman comes to us racked with hunger, we feed her. When a man comes to us shivering from the cold, we clothe him. Those who feed and those who clothe deserve our thanks and deserve our praise.

But also we must ask these questions: Why, in a society where there is more than enough food for all, are there people who are still hungry? Why are people, who are employed full time and paid minimum wage, coming to soup kitchens? Why are children and families living in shelters? Somehow we must find the way to force the question before all people of goodwill: Why is there hunger amidst abundance? And what can we do, not only to alleviate it, but also to conquer it?

One part of the answer to that compelling question is perfectly straightforward: The conquest of hunger and the other ills that plague us depend on civic engagement. Civic engagement may be expressed in many ways.

One, just one way, is through voting. Yet outside of seniors, who vote in the largest numbers, other groups are voting less and less. Thus elections are won, policy is made and funds are appropriated by a fraction of our people. The rest, whether it be because of a pervasive sense of futility, or because of a prevailing sense of cynicism, or because of plain indifference, have effectively dropped out. And having dropped out, they run the real and great risk of being left out.

Presidential elections turn out no more than half the eligible voters. Off-year and primary elections are lucky to see 30 percent of the electorate show up to vote. Such numbers are simply unacceptable. The right to vote is far too precious, the power of the vote too potent, to allow us to accept that this is the best we can do. I came from a society in South Africa where 96 percent of the people were denied the right to vote, and when in 1994, they were given the chance, they stood in line for hours, some for days, to exercise that right.

Our nation belongs to all of us. Our future belongs to all of us. We dare not accept that the future of our nation will be determined by an ever-declining fraction of our people. There is no true democracy without participation, and it is, therefore, a chief responsibility of ours to use all means at our disposal as individuals and as organizations to increase civic and electoral participation to the highest possible levels. This is not work we can leave to our colleagues who specialize and who do truly impressive work in this area. The crisis of participation is a crisis that confronts us all, and all of us must be involved in the response. This has to be a job we all take on.

A year from now, almost to the day, there will be a national election. Ought not every one of our organizations feel a direct responsibility for the elections? The stakes for our nation and, frankly, for us, could not be greater, whether at the Presidential level, in the Congress, or in the state house and cities, too. Ought we not be involved in seeing that our members, our boards, our employees, and those who volunteer with us, are engaged—irrespective of their political outlook? I am not talking about endorsement: I am talking about engagement. The more organizations that hold candidate forums, the more we talk about our particular issues of interest with those seeking public office and about their support of our voluntary sector and the people we serve, the more we press them to tell us how they plan to show their support once they have been elected to public office, and the more we follow up after the elections, the better off we will be.

I should add here that few politicians understand very much about nonprofits and foundations. Let us invite them to learn more about our organizations. Let us determine to keep them and their staff informed about the issues. Let us use the power of our knowledge to let candidates, at all levels, know what we want. And let us be sure that Americans of all ages, income levels, and ethnicities believe in the importance of their participating in the elections and are registered to vote. And let us tell office seekers that we are millions in number and we represent the diverse people of America and we are going to organize and vote around the issues we hold dear. That’s a power they will understand.

Finally, I think, we must apply our power to ourselves. We must look to our own houses and see that they are in order. If not, then we must put them straight. The decline in government funding has brought us to a crossroads where we must look not only at how we fund our activities but also at how we grow as a sector and how we function within our respective fields and with one another.

We need to examine our own individual sources of funding. Yes, we can put pressure on governments, as I have already said. Certainly foundations are encouraged to dig even deeper into their reservoirs and give more during this time of need, as well as to sustain their giving rather than moving on to new projects. And individual donors should be asked to give more as well. But even as we look to familiar sources, we must look to new sources of funding with equal intensity and seriousness.

Many of our organizations may no longer be viable financially if they continue with “business as usual.” We need to make tough but honest estimates of whether our efforts and work with others are meeting the need and fulfilling our core missions. We may have to be leaner and more efficient, but if we are to put our good ideas into action and achieve the results we desire, we need the wherewithal. And we must consider ways in which we might reinvent ourselves.

It would serve us well to look at our sector as a whole. Twenty-five years ago, there were 739,000 nonprofit organizations. Today, there are 1.8 million. This is a $650-billion dollar industry that has grown at twice the rate of the business sector. But are there not costs associated with this large and rapid growth? Are too many organizations paying overhead costs on their own when they could save money—and still be true to their mission? This does not mean that the small should give way to the large. This does not mean that we should in any way narrow the amazing diversity of our sector. But we have a responsibility to spend our resources wisely.

Thus the question we must ask ourselves is this: How can we wring the greatest efficiencies and economies out of our sector without harming worthwhile organizations? We cannot afford not to ask and answer this question. We cannot afford not to get the most from our resources. Results, in a word.

These are not questions that can be answered in a day, a month, or even a year. These are questions that we need to keep before us every day, every month, every year—beginning today, this day. When and where and how can functions be shared? Can we contemplate and effect collaborative efforts and even mergers? How and how often do we assess effectiveness? Are we really adding value to the common good?

Our questions, I suggest, cannot end here. We have no choice but to ask ourselves about our operations, policies, and practices. To be sure, most nonprofits and foundations are upright and ethical. We need to be sure that all of us are. Scandals—and they are so familiar, unfortunately, that I don’t need to repeat them here—hurt more than the organization that has done something wrong. We have counted over a hundred press stories in the last few months, reporting on deeply troubling practices of some foundations and nonprofits located in all parts of the country. Even though they are a tiny fraction of the nonprofit sector, they cause donors to think less of us, and give less to us. Scandals invite government regulation that moves rapidly beyond appropriate oversight to unwarranted and ill-founded policies. Scandals discredit us all; sully the good work we all do.

Therefore, we must make it our collective business, to see that our behavior and our governance structures are transparent. We each must ensure that our expenses, conduct, and policies are consistent with our mission and the expectations of our donors and the public. If the practices of our boards are dubious, change them. If our fundraising activities are questionable, remedy them. If our staff conduct is improper, set it right. Don’t wait for the reporter’s call. Rather, take preemptive action.

And we have an embarrassment of riches in many policies and practices on good governance and good behavior that already have been developed by various foundation and nonprofit collaborations. These initiatives will help move the ball forward and allow each of us to not begin this work from scratch. And by the way, INDEPENDENT SECTOR is at work now on a model code of ethics, which we will share with everyone.

What I have been saying may sound like “housekeeping.” Well, housekeeping is not a term of criticism. The virtue of our goals and our excellent work does not excuse excessive behavior or unethical practices. Most of all, if our houses are not in order, how can we hope to use the powers we have to achieve the purposes we have in sight?

Our conference brings together some of the most creative thinkers, the most seasoned strategists, and the most innovative people in all America. They are here to prod, provoke, push, and press us forward. I invite you to use this opportunity to focus on transparency, ethics, and good governance. I encourage you to think about your part of the challenge of educating politicians about our sector, keeping in mind the importance of the election of 2004 and getting people to be more engaged in that process. I urge you to talk and plan how you might capture the necessary resources, whether by adding revenues to the public coffers, assuring a fairer distribution of existing resources, or securing new streams of revenue. And I implore you to talk with the experts on how you might achieve more efficient delivery of services without compromising missions. And I assure you that as you share your thoughts with us, as we travel this road together, the collective impact of our combined efforts will benefit us all.

We have enough challenges to occupy us for a long time. But we have power that flows from our strength in numbers, our diversity, our moral strength, and our history of good results. Let us combine this power with a sense of purpose and do it in a spirit of unity. For we are truly interdependent. Let us invite our colleagues and friends at home to share in this effort and remember John Gardner’s charge to his audience in 1980:

“The spark from one fire lights another fire, and there is a wind that blows down the path of history. The spark that we send down the wind will ignite later generations. It will not die.” 3

Nothing I have discussed with you today is going to be easy, and the road we are traveling may turn out to be a long one. But look… look around you… and see how many good traveling companions you will have. Know as well that INDEPENDENT SECTOR is here to help. And know, above all, how very far our nation has come, no small thanks to the work we have done over the many decades. Take courage from that and hope. We couldn’t ask for better company; and we couldn’t be serving a more noble cause.
 

Share Your Feedback

We invite your ideas and feedback on the key areas outlined in Diana Aviv’s address, Purpose, Power, and Participation: Ideas for the Future of Our Sector. Please take a moment and provide your thoughts in response to our brief questionnaire. Your advice will be incorporated into IS’s work.

1 Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, Volume II, Second Book, Chapter V (originally published 1840).

2 John W. Gardner, Living, Leading, and the American Dream, p. 181, edited by Francesca Gardner (San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2003).

3 John W. Gardner, Living, Leading, and the American Dream, p. 37, edited by Francesca Gardner (San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2003).