Hate To Say We Told You So
No, really, I get no pleasure out of this, but we've been telling our users for years that the NAACP was in big trouble financially. Their administrative costs have long been out of control and they've been hemorrhaging money for at least three years. The big business CEO they brought in to right the ship had a few early successes, but when he became more "corporate" than "advocate", they fired him.
Today, we get word that the once-mighty civil rights group is laying off 40% of its headquarters staff (40%!--that's a blood-letting) and closing its 7 regional offices (that's 100% of them--they only have 7). It's almost hard to fathom, but this famous organization is just about bankrupt.
And I'm not optimistic they'll turn the corner. The vision thing seems a tad lacking still. When asked why they were struggling so much, their new president blamed not only the old president, but rising gas prices, and yes, the fact that people aren't giving as much money to the NAACP as they used to.
This is a sad situation for people who care about civil rights, and even those who love this country. We need the NAACP. But it's vindication for those of us who have cautioned for a long time that the sky was falling at the NAACP, due not to its mission or relevance in today's times, but to a maelstrom of mismanagement, lack of vision, lazy marketing, a refusal to self-reflect, and a board constantly at odds with senior staff leadership over not just the direction of the group, but the path to get there. The data was what it was, and it showed that this group was in trouble.
I just wish I felt better about us having been right.
Today, we get word that the once-mighty civil rights group is laying off 40% of its headquarters staff (40%!--that's a blood-letting) and closing its 7 regional offices (that's 100% of them--they only have 7). It's almost hard to fathom, but this famous organization is just about bankrupt.
And I'm not optimistic they'll turn the corner. The vision thing seems a tad lacking still. When asked why they were struggling so much, their new president blamed not only the old president, but rising gas prices, and yes, the fact that people aren't giving as much money to the NAACP as they used to.
This is a sad situation for people who care about civil rights, and even those who love this country. We need the NAACP. But it's vindication for those of us who have cautioned for a long time that the sky was falling at the NAACP, due not to its mission or relevance in today's times, but to a maelstrom of mismanagement, lack of vision, lazy marketing, a refusal to self-reflect, and a board constantly at odds with senior staff leadership over not just the direction of the group, but the path to get there. The data was what it was, and it showed that this group was in trouble.
I just wish I felt better about us having been right.
Labels: Baltimore, bankruptcy, Bruce Gordon, Charity Navigator, Julian Bond, NAACP
posted by Trent Stamp at 2:38 PM
4 Comments:
This is sad news, but the organization was helpful when it really needed to be, perhaps now another organization will take it's place that can deal with many of the current issues.
The NAACP has historically been an important institution, yes, but its struggles I think are reflective of a generational and ideological shift in the civil rights arena that is reflected in the rise of folks like Barack Obama and the many grassroots leaders and groups in communities of color that large civil rights organizations like the NAACP don't represent. It's too bad that this is the way the NAACP might go out, but organizational rises and falls are normal and part of the evolution of social movements.
Trent,
Not relevant to this post, but FYI:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/6733735.stm
This is really sad news, Trent. I hope that they have the ability to redirect their course. It sounds like they could use an injection of new leadership... is the board positioned to lead that charge?
Jeremy Gregg
Editor, The Raiser's Razor
http://theraiser.blogspot.com/
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