As an organization challenging traditional economics, we have to think carefully about how we approach earning, raising, and spending money. Going beyond a traditional gift acceptance policy allows us to ground our fundraising practices in our organizational values. Please reach out to leanna@toollibrary.org with any questions or to discuss.
We are divesting from the philanthropy industry
What? Philanthropy is a good thing, right? Yes, and no.
While we love altruism and generosity, our current tax code promotes the concentration of wealth in private investment accounts and foundations’ endowments and has few requirements for equitable distribution. Today, philanthropic investments make up more than a trillion dollars in privately-controlled wealth, a number that has grown steadily year after year as more is earned than is distributed (1).
Regardless of the good intentions or actions of individuals, these structures are in conflict with our organizational mission to facilitate collective control of resources and promote sharing (2).
What this means for us:
When seeking grants, we will prioritize government and other funding controlled by the public.
We will be selective about partnering with private foundations, and consider representation in board composition, grantmaking practices (including more than a 5% annual payout), and sustainable investment policies before entering a grantee relationship (3).
We are not seeking new gifts through donor advised funds (4) until legislation brings them in line with at least minimum requirements for private foundations (5).
We carefully consider all potential corporate donors for values alignment, and may decline a donation or discontinue a partnership if we find a mismatch.
You can find many more resources about equitable funding, impact investment, and other philanthropy-divestment movements 6.
We are investing in mutual support
We believe that the more we share, the more we have– and that there are enough resources in our community to sustain it. By offering sliding scale payments and other opportunities for people to truly pay what they are able, we can come close to fully funding our staff and overhead. Equitable payment does not mean everyone pays the same amount, whether through a transaction or a donation.
We say thank you– and mean it– and that’s it
As a donor to SNTL, you may have an experience you’re not used to. We don’t offer donor perks or send thank-you gifts. We don’t publish a list of donors each year or offer naming opportunities. We don’t even have a dedicated fundraising staff member. We believe strongly that the people who choose to support SNTL do so because they simply love what we do, and want to see it continue. As stewards of collective resources, we would prefer to spread your money around rather than give it back in the form of stuff you don’t need.
The boring legal stuff
In the course of its regular fundraising activities, Station North Tool Library (SNTL) will accept donations of money, real property, personal property and in-kind services. Certain types of gifts must be reviewed prior to acceptance due to the special liabilities they may pose for SNTL. Examples of gifts which will be subject to review include gifts of real property, gifts of personal property, and gifts of securities.
Total Financial Assets Held by Private Foundations (St. Louis Fed)
Foundations Have a Not-So-Charitable Secret (Yes! Magazine)
New Data Tells Us Where Donor-Advised Fund Dollars Go—And Don’t Go (Nonprofit Quarterly)
We need to support legislation on philanthropy’s crappy, inequitable practices (Nonprofit AF)
Resources for Social Justice/Integrated Capital Investing and Philanthropy (Regan Pritzker)
These principles are heavily influenced by the Community Centric Fundraising movement and its contributors as well as the researchers linked here. You are welcome to use, adapt, and cite these principles! Please include the Station North Tool Library and any other influences in a note like this.