Bekah Eichelberger: Centering equity in development writing

Aug 20

I started my fundraising career in grant-writing and communications—writing grants, appeals, emails, and more. I spent my days thinking about how to make the most effective ask, thinking critically through each word choice and how it could inspire donations.

But when I wrote about our constituents, it was only as fodder for donor inspiration—with little regard for how I deployed the stories of those my organization served.

Here’s what I know now: Language matters. A lot. We as fundraisers are often the people with whom the public and our organization’s supporters interact most. How we talk about our work and our constituents informs how others understand the complex problems we are trying to solve—and how they affect the people we serve.

So, it is on fundraisers to be thoughtful and intentional about how speak about our missions, our work, and our constituents—and to lead our organizations in crafting more equity-focused messaging.

How white supremacy affects fundraisers

At Aperio book club, we recently dove into Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance by Edgar Villanueva. Villanueva lays bare the stark inequities that continue to pervade institutional philanthropy.

“Colonial, white supremacist organizational practices seem inevitable because they were so universally adopted over [past] centuries, and they still govern the great majority of our institutions,” he writes, “but they were design choices. This means that other choices are available, even when they seem far-fetched.” (Read our book club recap for more.)

Villanueva identifies the language used by funders as one place where commonly-used ‘coded’ language—euphemisms that ‘other’ those most affected by colonialism, racism, and white supremacy—reinforces inequity. And it’s not just funders who ‘other;’ we as fundraisers do it too.

As I grew in in my career, I confronted the need to take stock of how I wrote—about the work my organization did, and about the people and communities we served. I needed to examine the ways in which my language reinforces—or challenges—harmful attitudes, practices, and systems.

Centering equity

So how can we do that? Here are some ways I’ve started to center equity in my work. I’m learning alongside you, so please be sure to also check out the resources from BIPOC-led organizations that I’ve linked toward the end of the article.

“We know what spaces and organizations look like, feel like, and function like when they are inspired by the colonizers’ principles of separation, competition, and exploitation,” Villanueva writes. “How would they be different if they were based on principles like integration and interdependence, reciprocity and relationship?”

Take time to step back

Let's be honest—when was the last time you looked at the way you write? Yes, you go through edits, but when there is an urgent deadline approaching, it’s easy to fall back on the tried-and-true language you’ve used before. This is not to say that canned language isn’t helpful—it is! But creating equity-centered language takes time—and that’s one thing that always seems in short supply.

White supremacy culture in the workplace is characterized in part by an environment in which we all feel pressure to work fast—but we don’t have to! In order to create language that addresses the root, systemic causes of our constituents’ needs, we have to iterate and think things through.

Schedule time for yourself to dive into your writing. Read it, make notes in the margins, take a break. Do it again. You can also do this as a team. Ask your colleagues (not just from the development department) to dive into your copy and see what they think. Their thoughts are invaluable as you deconstruct your work.

Center your constituent’s complex lives

While your organization’s work might be focused on a single issue, the people you serve do not live single-issue lives. Examining the way we incorporate constituents’ stories into fundraising messaging is crucial to shifting how we think about our own work.

“When we talk about any community of people as vulnerable, marginalized, hurting, we spend all of our time focusing on fixing those communities rather than fixing the systems, laws, and culture that target, exploit, and continue to hold these communities down,” writes Brenda Tyler.

In your writing, you should dedicate space to speak honestly about the systems and practices that disenfranchise the people you serve. Paint the picture for your donors and funders. From there, you can make the case about how your efforts are part of a larger coalition of organizations and leaders that are working to uplift individuals and communities. Your organization cannot solve all inequities—but you can name how your work is a part of the solution.

Learn from others

While COVID-19 has shifted our understanding of inequity in fundraising, these conversations are not new. Many leaders of color have been doing amazing work around equity in fundraising. Listen and learn from them, and see how you can implement their suggestions into your fundraising efforts.

Here are some resources I have found useful:

This work is not easy. It requires time we don’t always have, along with knowledge and perspectives outside of our own. But this work is essential. For our organizations to truly live out our missions, we must take the time to center equity in everything that we do.

“Decolonizing our thinking, whether that’s in philanthropy or other sectors of doing good, is a lifelong commitment.” – Edgar Villanueva