Making change shouldn’t mean making less.

You should be paid more.

But nonprofits face an unjust rulebook.

Because society discriminates against nonprofits when it comes to compensation, according to the legendary TED Talk by Dan Pallotta.

Especially the funders who hold you to a different standard than the private sector — where many of them built their wealth in the first place — when they don’t allow your fundraising to cover salaries.

(Yet foundations have $1.5 trillion sitting in the bank. So it shouldn’t be an either/or choice between programs or people.)

Here’s the irony. ⤵

Some donors are opposed to nonprofit leaders making decent money helping people? But those same donors are not opposed to corporate leaders making a lot of money not helping people?

Curious.

“You want to make $50 million selling violent video games to kids, go for it,” Pallotta says. “But you want to make half a million dollars trying to cure kids of malaria, you’re considered a parasite yourself.”

And this is why it matters, from Joan Garry:

“Nonprofits exist in a free market. They need to be competitive in order to attract the best talent. It’s that simple.”

“A healthy nonprofit with outstanding leadership will be able to help more people in a more effective and bigger way for a much longer time.”

Making change shouldn’t mean making less.

So compensate all changemakers fairly.

Because underpaid = undermined impact.

💪🏽💛

---

The daily bonus

Another (related) video worth sharing. Vu Le with NonprofitAF went viral last year with this beauty: Nonprofit Math.

nonprofitaf

A post shared by @nonprofitaf

---

Sneak peek

Coming up in tomorrow’s newsletter:

There are only five ways to raise more money…

---