Thread by @clairewillett

tonight I finally broke my 39-year streak of refusing to join nonprofit boards or fundraising committees (which are usually just people wanting me to do the job I charge for without having to pay me anything), a powerful testament to how motivated I am by spite

(this is actually a Very Good Committee and it's helping to organize around the massive budget cuts to the humanities at my alma mater that I tweeted about, so I'm actually feeling very positive about it after tonight's meeting, but still

i'm fueled by Board Overreach Rage)

I can’t believe “skilled professionals have the right to charge what they’re worth, even if they work for nonprofits” was today’s hot take, but for the record, “volunteering because I care about something” and “being asked to do my whole job for no money” are two different things

The reason I don’t join boards or committees is that I’m incredibly good at what I do and I charge what I’m worth, and a lot of folks over the years have tried to grift me into being an unpaid development director so they don’t have to spend any money on salary, which is shady.

Nonprofit employees already get paid less and have less support than employees at for-profit companies. I’ve almost never worked someplace with HR. Never worked anyplace where I got a raise. Arts orgs bleed you out of 60+ hours a week during performance runs and pay you for 40.

So yeah, after being in this line of work for 18 years I’m a very fierce advocate for myself, because I had to be, when most of my workplaces weren’t. I set my own rate and terms now, and I don’t do this work for free, and I choose the clients I take, so I don’t get screwed again

I don’t want to boost the bad take but I do want to point out that claiming nonprofit employees shouldn’t have the same rights other kinds of employees get, because just helping the cause should be enough, is the mindset that makes our workplaces so toxic & turnover so high.

“If you REALLY cared about this cause you’d just do it for free out of the goodness of your heart” son I still have an electric bill, there’s a REASON joining boards has historically been a rich man’s game

that’s who can AFFORD to do this without getting paid for it

Anyway

I joined an all-volunteer alumni committee and I asked them to put me where the need was highest, and they put me in fundraising, which I’m happy to do because I’m not being taken advantage of, and maybe random strangers shouldn’t lecture me about how my own job works 🤷‍♀️