In(c)ights | Pushing Nonprofits Toward Politics
Robert Egger fully admits that his “bird-dogging” of presidential candidates campaigning last month in New Hampshire was more about theater than anything else. By sticking a camera in their faces and asking them what role nonprofits would play in their administration, he hoped to make them realize that the sector is beginning to become deeply interested in political life.
A former businessman who now runs the DC Central Kitchen, Egger foresees vast consolidation and legislation coming to the nonprofit world and worries that its institutions simply aren’t prepared for it. On the flip side, the sector, he says, boasts true economic muscle, including 14 million employees, 80 million volunteers, $260 billion in contributions, and $3 trillion in assets. If nonprofits could come together to speak with one voice, they could harness that power for change, he believes.
“Most politicians don’t view the sector as anything more than a hodgepodge of good deed doers,” Egger told the 501(c) Files in a phone interview. “Many view us as taking more than we actually give. There’s very few metrics that can show the economic impact [or our activities] as well as the social impact. … In that vacuum I’m sitting here as a basic business guy saying, ‘We’re talking about one-tenth of our economy.”
Wanting government at all levels to start paying attention, he launched the V3 Campaign “to ask every candidate for higher office — from small town mayoral contenders to presidential nominees — to provide details about their experience with and plans for strengthening the nonprofit sector if they are elected. We want to impact every election, in every town, in every state.”
“We want to get a generation of politicians who might go out of their way to say, ‘We want to hyperincentivize nonprofits,’” Egger said. “‘These social entrepreneurs are not only hiring people but putting their money back in the community. We want more of these.’
“Unless we get a voice politically, we’re going to get really hammered hard,” he added. “We’re going to be asked to do more, for more, with less, guaranteed. … This isn’t ‘Nonprofits, unite!’ I’m genuinely concerned about the larger society in which we work.”
In(c)ights, an interview with a nonprofit professional, appears Wednesdays at the 501(c) Files. | 501(c)
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