Behind the Scenes at Sisters
I’ve only been here a few months, but I can already tell you that working at Sisters is really special, even with the cafe closed. I appreciate how we work organization-wide to make sure Sisters’ philosophies are integrated into everything we do, from thank you calls to our employee handbook.
If Sisters’ philosophies are meaningful to you, make a donation in honor of this tradition today!
This is not just a nice talking point, it’s actually true in my experience. Since I started working here, we:
Hold an all-hands-on-deck meeting at least once a week to discuss how our strategies in each department align with Sisters’ mission and philosophies.
Make sure Sisters’ values are represented in organization wide policies, in our donor interactions and in training too.
Talk through difficult topics, stay informed on harmful narratives, hold ourselves accountable and integrate lessons learned in all of our work.
Everyone on the Sisters team is invaluable.
In my department, our fundraising and communication team is working to ensure our fundraising strategies are transparent, ethical, and community centered.
Community Centric Fundraising is a concept in which the community as a whole is prioritized, rather than specific donors or individual organizations. We want to make sure equity and social justice is present in fundraising as well as in our cafe and systemic change programs.
What does that look like? It is sharing fundraising opportunities with other organizations, honoring all of our donors whether they donate $3 or $3,000, and making strategic decisions that align with our philosophies.
Community Centric Fundraising in Action
We recently learned many people are holding off on donating and waiting for a “matched giving” opportunity. We appreciate that people want their donation to be impactful, but the reality is that many “match” fundraisers are not real. The people or organizations sponsoring the match will give a donation whether or not individuals donate.
While it is a really effective strategy to get donations, we don’t want to mislead our donors. This is what I mean when I say Sisters employees work to ensure we honor Sisters’ philosophies. We don’t always use the strategy that works the best.
We choose actions that honor our organization, our donors, our values and ourselves.
It is possible that a true match could be made, but we do not currently have this opportunity. (If you want to sponsor a match, get in touch with us!)
It is imperative that Sisters continues to receive donations from our community in order to carry out our systemic change work, oversee the building renovation project, and successfully move into the new space. I promise that we are doing our best and we cannot wait to welcome you back into our new space when it opens.
THIS IS THE LAST WEEK OF OUR SUMMER FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN!
You can show your support by donating to Gather and Grow today.
