Weathering the Storms
One of the pillars of our theory of change is resistance: We have the ability to protect ourselves, push back, and generate possibilities, even in the face of crisis and attack. And one thing we know—both historically and given present conditions—is that a crucial act of resistance is being proactive about protecting your organization from oppositional attacks. Though, yes, opposition attacks are on the rise, they also are ever present and can damage or weaken movement organizations.
Opposition attacks can take many forms, creating devastating emergencies for leaders, organizations, and communities. For example, movements have experienced:
- Accusations, complaints, and/or investigations related to violations of 501(c) 3 tax exempt status or misuse of government funding
- Lawsuits intended to censor, intimidate, financially burden, or silence an organization
- Character assasination
- Technological infiltration to access or delete confidential information such as donor lists, membership lists, and strategy documents
From our deep experience, we know that the key to protecting from—and pushing back against—opposition attacks is being prepared. RoadMap offers a distinct holistic approach to capacity building in which short-, medium-, and long-term interventions are necessary, foundational building blocks to weather multiple, intersecting political storms.
In its inception in 2012, our Weathering the Storms program was funded by a collaboration of 26 foundation partners. From our first wave of Weather the Storms work, we learned the important lesson that urgent organizational support and interventions intended to protect and defend our movements are needed regardless of what is happening at the federal and state levels politically. Why? Because even in more supportive political climates opposition forces are continuously working to dismantle our movements and target our leadership. The most holistic way to approach this form of capacity building is to ensure that it is always resourced and available to movement organizations and leaders who need it. This means that philanthropy and our movements need to work together to ensure that this is not an under-resourced part of our work to sustain and defend movements.
In the years since, we have expanded our Weathering the Storms offerings and helped over 1,000 movement organizations shield themselves from attacks and respond clearly when under assault, through expert guidance to evaluate and establish protocol in:
- Governance practices
- Business practices
- Financial systemsÂ
- Lobbying and non-partisan advocacy
- FundraisingÂ
- Employment practices
- Civic engagement work
- Crisis scenario and management planning
- Reputation protection
- Compliance
- Digital security
- Crisis communications
Organizations also will receive a 200+ page toolkit with best practices and policies and actionable insights to safeguard your organization.
To learn more about how to offer Weathering the Storms to your organization, complete our intake form, or check out our 2015 Weathering the Storms report.