A way forward for philanthropy. A path out of darkness.

My main website is still not working so I'll use my articles to point to the type of links I include in the library.

Here's an article titled, "Funders, here's the blueprint for saving democracy".    It's written by Vu Le, who I've followed for several years.  I urge you to read it.  

I've used the term "blueprint" in many articles, to show a range of actions that donors, leaders, policy-makers, etc. need to be taking to help make sure well-organized, long-term, volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs are available in EVERY high poverty area of Chicago and other places with concentrations of persistent poverty.

I've also used visualizations to communicate ideas, like this one, which I used this in 2021 in an article where I first quoted Vu Le.  

Again, I urge you to read Vu Le's current article.  

You want a plan to save democracy? He says we already have many blueprints, but donors don't use them.  In his current article he says,  "You want a plan to stop fascism? Here it is, broken down into two parts:"

He starts out with "First, stop the bleeding" and list 8 steps that donors should take.  

I love the first step, which I show below:

"Change your founding charters so you can give out more money and fund differently and more effectively, such as funding progressive individuals, movements, mutual aid, LLCs, religious orgs, 501c4s, PACs, and so on. Stop letting policies written during different times and by people who are less likely to suffer under this regime dictate your actions in the present moment."

I've operated as an LLC since 2011 and if donors had been following this thinking since then all of the content that we created through the Tutor/Mentor Connection (1993-present) in the 2000s would still be working, with many upgrades that would draw youth programs together and draw volunteers and donors more consistently to every youth tutor/mentor program operating in defined geographic areas.

His second set of strategies come under the heading of "Fight Fire with Fire".

He wrote, "Gather your team and read Sally Covington’s report that spelled out all the strategies conservatives have been using for decades that liberal-leaning funders have largely avoided, which has contributed greatly to the situation we find ourselves in today. (This report is so vital, I’ve created a link you can easily remember: tinyurl.com/rightwingfunding)

It’s time we use conservatives’ strategies, which focuses on FIVE KEY AREAS, which I summarize here but overlay a progressive lens. These strategies need to be funded through Multi-Year General Operating Dollars (MYGOD), for 20 or 30 years at a time, which is what the right has done, which is why they’ve been so effective."

When Vu Le says "Gather your team" I think of the graphic below. Share Vu Le's article, and mine, and start discussions with friends, family, co-workers, etc. and figure ways to adopt the blueprint he's shared.

While I focus on  helping mentor-rich youth-serving organizations grow, which help kids through school and into adult lives, the graphic below shows many other issues that also need long-term, flexible funding.

A similar concept map could be created to show all of the issues we need to address to not only save Democracy, but to move closer to the ideals expressed in the forming of America, which have made this a land of hope, and opportunity, for immigrants of all backgrounds, since the day the first European set foot on these shores.   

Such a strategy would also address the challenges facing the people who occupied the North American continent before the arrival of Europeans.

I have used cMapTools since 2005 to create concept maps like the one shown above (click here).  Since my website is not opening, I can't point you to the page with my entire collection.  However, I invite you to skim these articles and open the maps I've been sharing.

Furthermore, I encourage you to skim the collection of articles I've written about philanthropy (click here).

Then, read these "tipping point" articles. 

And, read my "blueprint" articles.

In many you'll see that I believe this information needs to be aggregated, and taught from universities and high schools as kids move from first grade through school and through their adult lives.  It needs to be part of on-going learning, just as conservative radio and TV had been embedded for the past 60+ years in an on-going public education and influence program.

Donors need to fund this, too.

Thank you Vu Le for your articles.  If people share these in their networks that's the first step toward making them a reality.