In The Nonprofit Sector and the March Toward Tyranny, Michael Gilbert offers an eloquent, powerful and heartfelt call to the nonprofit sector to engage with the task of opposing the unraveling of the free, open social framework that lets nonprofits do the work that we do.

Michael writes:

I believe the United States is on a course toward tyranny and oppression, both inside this country and internationally. I believe that the nonprofit sector is more than an artifact of the tax code and cheap postal rates; I believe that there is a moral core to the sector founded upon the civil framework that allows the sector to thrive. I am hoping and praying that starting from this moral core we can find the courage to take action and help the country change course.

… If you are like most organizations, you are in the same situation that Nonprofit Online News is in. It’s not our mission to try to avert tyranny in the United States, but we are called to do something nevertheless.

Some things you can do include:

Rewrite this editorial in your own language, since my language is not to everyone’s taste. Circulate it among your colleagues, your board members, your volunteers. Have lunch time discussions about it. Don’t look for consensus. Just find the people who want to do something. Build an informal network of such people and keep them talking.

Include something about this crisis in your newsletters. It doesn’t have to be a headline issue unless you decide to take a bold position. But include something in every issue. There is something powerful about reaching out beyond your mission to help your supporters see the greater context of things. Give people something simple they can do. They can add themselves to that network of yours.

Bring this issue up with your colleagues at other organizations and in professional associations. Remind them that the very framework that allows them to do their work is in jeopardy.

Take some time to find the deepest and most immediate connections between these issues and the mission and vision of your organization. Chances are good that they will connect with your vision in some way, even if they don’t connect with your day to day operation. See if there is a way to take an official position, even if it’s a narrow one.

This is what leadership looks like. Thank you, Michael.