Funny how calls for nonprofit transparency tend to target organizations that are BIPOC-led and/or doing revolutionary and transformative work. Thread: 1/ https://twitter.com/mnfreedomfund/status/1272888415508402179

Yesterday, The National Network of @AbortionFunds and its executive director, @yamaniyansa sent a powerful email to supporters, entitled "Defund Police, Not Abortions." https://twitter.com/melissagira/status/1272641298152009728

The email is phenomenal, and should be read in its entirety, but I'm going to highlight just one point because of its particular resonance with the calls for "transparency" that Minnesota Freedom Fund and other bail funds and community organizations are facing now. 3/

. @yamaniyansa notes that @AbortionFunds only receives complaints about fiduciary responsibility about member funds about funds led by Black, Indigenous, and people of color that do work with a more expansive reproductive justice focus that goes beyond funding abortion.

A quick primer on nonprofit fiduciary law: in the United States, in order to receive federal tax-exempt status, nonprofit corporations are required to limit their work to the bounds of their statement of purpose. 5/

If the leaders in the organization who have responsibility for overseeing the organization's finances permit the organization to vary from the bounds of their statement of purpose (sometimes called a "mission statement"), they can face civil and even criminal penalties. 6/

The concept of fiduciary duty within business entity law (which includes nonprofit corps, corporations, and many, many other entities) is designed to prevent the misappropriation of funds and protect the solvency of organization. It's not a bad concept. However: 7/

In the nonprofit sphere, the concept of fiduciary duty is often weaponized by those who disapprove of an organization's method of fulfilling its statement of purpose. These complaints are often disguised as calls for "accountability" or "transparency." 8/

Certainly, accountability and transparency are not bad concepts. But the calls that get magnified tend to be the ones targeting nascent orgs run by marginalized people doing anti-oppressive work and call-outs of established orgs by marginalized folks usually get shoved aside. 9/

Take, for instance, the recent fight within the National Center for Trans Equality, a well-established, white-led nonprofit that has is very influential and has done a lot of powerful work. BIPOC staff spent years pushing for change and attempting to organize their workplace. 10/

In response, NCTE pushed back on unionization attempts and demands for greater rep of BIPOC trans staff in the org. Ultimately, the staff asked for the ED's resignation. The ED and Board refused, and instead offered a buyout to staff members. http://www.newnownext.com/national-center-for-trans-equality-massive-buyout-staff-dissolved/11/2019/

The majority of the staff resigned, taking the buyout, and NCTE's ED stayed on. The mass resignation/buyout was heavily covered in media and many community members spoke out loudly against NCTE's issue, but media coverage faded. NCTE continues to exist, with the same ED. 12/

Compare this to the scrutiny @MNFreedomFund, an org that had a minimal budget/reach prior to the George Floyd uprising, is facing. As the Fund continues to work to get protesters out of jail and cover their costs, demands mount for the org to account for every dollar received.13/

"But what's wrong with that?" you might ask. "Donors deserve to know where the money is going."

Well, dear reader, I'm glad you asked! 14/

First, offering an accessible accounting of funds requires a lot of work --skilled work. Even in well-staffed nonprofits, putting together an annual report with financials is not as simple as pushing a button. It ideally requires trained accountants or auditors. 15/

Whether an org chooses to hire a financial professional put together documents or has staff or volunteers do it, that level of transparency necessitates taking resources and labor away from the "programmatic" work of the organization. 16/

Secondly, the nature of account tracking for an organization (particularly one that is distributing money) is such that even if an instantaneous accounting could be offered, it wouldn't be useful. 17/

Think about your own bank account. If you have a rent or mortgage, it probably looks VERY different on the first of the month than the 20th. The same is true for orgs like bail funds, which will pay bail and wait to get the funds back when the defendant comes to court. 18/

Right now, bail funds have lots of money earmarked for protesters who may be waiting for their bail to be set, and have also paid out bail to others. That's why it may look like the money has "disappeared." 19/

Additionally, an organization operating on a more revolutionary praxis may be using funds to compensate volunteers or staff, or taking a more expansive view of their statement of purpose (for instance, paying legal fees and not just bail, which is what @MNFreedomFund is doing.)

As someone who has worked for and volunteered with a wide range of nonprofit organizations, I feel confident saying that the vast majority of organizations (and ESPECIALLY those who operate on anti-oppressive principles) are committed to transparency. 19/

The nonprofit sector is heavily regulated and scrutinized, much more so than the private sector. Nonprofit accounting and compliance measures take millions, if not billions of dollars each year. 20/

Meeting even the basic legal requirements to keep ones nonprofit status is time-consuming and expensive, and it's particularly so for small nonprofits started by BIPOC folks and other marginalized folks. 21/

When you see calls for accountability for nonprofits that have received an influx of funds, take a closer look. Are the calls for "accountability" reasonable and/or good faith? Are they such that they will take resources away from the work that the org is doing? 22/

The truth is, the legal framework governing nonprofits is itself a capitalist and oppressive framework. Unfortunately, it is also currently the best tool for revolutionary groups to receive and distribute funds. 23/

We can work to create more just systems of accountability for organizations and grousp that want to redistribute wealth and provide critical services. But we also have to work with what we've got. Don't make the nonprofit industrial complex any more oppressive than it is. 24/

If you appreciated this thread, I hope you will make a donation to one of the BIPOC-led funds in @AbortionFunds' email. I have met many of the individuals involved with these funds and they are doing critical work. 25/end …https://nationalnetworkofabortionfunds.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/j/57636BB83F01B88D2540EF23F30FEDED/3DE6B8F9CB24C51D0B3A73003FEB3522