Worth trying to change an organization from within?

August 16, 2009 7:41 PM

An organization which I have belonged to for many years has taken a position which I find abhorrent. Should I withdraw my membership outright or, should I first try to get the organization to reconsider its position?

I've been a member of this organization for many years, and it does many good things. However, I have now received a request from the organization (sent to all its members) to take action in support of a position which I find deeply abhorrent. Naturally, I will not act on the request. But the fact that the organization would request it at all deeply bothers me, and I do not wish to support such an organization.

I'll be writing to the organization's leadership to express my opinion. I'm torn, though, as to whether it should be "I am cancelling my membership because..." or "I strongly urge you to reconsider this position; otherwise, I will cancel my membership." Part of me is pissed off enough to just cancel my membership, period, but part of me wants to believe there's a chance of getting them to reconsider and that the organization deserves a chance to correct itself. If a friend of several years did something that deeply offended me, I'd like to think I'd let them know how they offended me and give them a chance to apologize and make it up, but I also question whether it's valid to analogize between a friendship and membership in an organization.

What would you advise in such a situation? Have you ever faced such a situation, what did you do, and how did it work out? What other factors I should consider in such a decision?

I'm being deliberately vague about both the organization and the position which I find offensive, which I realize may make answers more difficult; however, I don't want answers to get sidetracked by what people may think of the particular organization or the position. However, I will add:
- The organization is large enough that I don't have regular contact with its leadership but small enough I believe my letter will be read and at least considered.
- The position is not criminal nor in support of anything criminal.
- The position is one the organization had not expressed an opinion on one or the other before, and one I had no reason to believe it had any interest in one way or the other (so it wasn't as if it was an about-face from a previous position).

Bonus question: Coincidentally, I made a donation, by check, to the organization a few days before, which has not been cashed yet. If I give the organization a chance to change its position, do I stop payment on the check? (If I decide to just cancel my membership outright, I'm definitely stopping payment.)

posted by DevilsAdvocate to society & culture (14 answers total)

I'd stop payment now. You can always write another check.

Your voice will probably be more meaningful if organized. Do you have access to a mailing list or other contact directory, through which you might mount an opposition in numbers? Even if not, you might be able to grassroots some numeric support by talking to other members you do know, sending them to your Google or Yahoo Groups signup page (or whatever), and asking them to contact all the other members that THEY know, etc.

A letter signed by a few hundred members will most definitely get attention.
posted by rokusan at 7:44 PM on August 16, 2009

Cancel the membership and stop payment. Write them a letter. If the organization changes its mind, join again.
posted by papayaninja at 7:47 PM on August 16, 2009

As rokusan says, you can always write another check, so definitely stop payment.

From the perspective of a former non-profit executive, letters like this do get taken seriously, and as rokusan suggests, the larger group you can organize to protest the better. That said, each person should write their own letter, because that will have more impact than a petition.

Good luck, and I'm sorry the organization you support has gone in a direction you find upsetting.
posted by Sidhedevil at 7:47 PM on August 16, 2009

Oh yes, a thousand letters is better than one with a thousand signatures. I should have realized that. But a unified voice is important, so don't let it shatter into 1000 different gripes.

Provide a template on your organizing web page, for example.
posted by rokusan at 7:49 PM on August 16, 2009

Have they offered any of the thinking behind the position? Have there been any recent changes in leadership or the big donor population?

If you have a lot invested in this organization, you should try to find out how this happened - is it a one-time thing, or has the organization truly changed?

Might be worth checking, too, to see if they can actually make this request for action without running afoul of their tax status or other commitments.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 8:04 PM on August 16, 2009 [1 favorite]

I've been a member of this organization for many years, and it does many good things.

Don't write. Call. Has more of an impact. If the organization is of a size where you've had even intermittent contact with its leadership, call the director or president. Non-profits are usually pretty accessible. I would not quit or cancel the check without having that conversation first. (I haven't been in a "don't do this or I'll quit" position, but I have had a lot of luck reaching the heads of organizations that my husband and I support.)

Since you have supported it financially, it's your organization too - why should you quit? If you are really are an active part of an organization, you have a responsibility to try and steer it in the right direction.

Does the organization have a formal written mission or purpose, and how does the recent action fit with that mission? Might give you a talking point for your call.
posted by txvtchick at 8:13 PM on August 16, 2009

I have been in this position before, with a big non-profit organization. I would definitely take the second option you mentioned -- the same way I would treat a friend: give them a chance to reconsider, and then if they don't, you take the next step.

I've also been on both sides of this type of debate, and as a previous poster mentioned, these letters do get attention.

I wouldn't even necessarily worry about "organizing" people for a coordinated opposition at first. Send your letter to them, but make it an open letter and publicize it widely. As someone mentioned, if you have access to an email list, send your letter directly to leadership, but make it clear you're CC-ing membership, and post it to the list. Your letter doesn't have to be hostile, but should be crystal clear that you disagree with their position, that you don't think that such a position goes along with "XYZ organization"'s goals or mission, and that you are very seriously considering canceling your membership over it. In the letter, ask them to explain themselves, and ask them to reconsider their position. And you may make a statement that you believe at least some other people in the organization feel the same way, and if they do, you encourage them to speak up too.

If you can send it to an email list, great; if not, publicise it in other ways. Call it an "open letter" and send it to your local newspaper or the local newspaper in the locality where they're based. Or even just put it up on the internet. You could just open a free blog account, and have only one post -- your opposition letter. Just make sure your organization knows the complaint is public knowledge.

There's a very good chance, if this position contradict's the organization's core values, that your letter will be followed up by numerous "me too" letters from other people. There always needs to be a first person to speak up.

Then you can judge how to proceed based on how they respond.

Oh, yeah, what rokusan said: definitely stop the check now. you can always write another one.
posted by leticia at 12:46 AM on August 17, 2009

Organizations compromise. If the issue involved is more important than the issues you support, then weigh it and act. I don't think acting in the absence of communication has much effect, and prefer both letter and call on really important stuff. Call after writing the letter and you'll be better at expressing yourself. Then, depending on the call results, you can send/not send the letter.

As far as the money... ask for it back. In a lot of ways, that would have a much greater impact as now they have to see the results of their actions, IMO.
posted by FauxScot at 4:01 AM on August 17, 2009

It is difficult to effect change from the outside. Though it is tempting to take your ball and go home, you should weight how important to you is this organization and the work it does.

How does the organization make these kinds of policy decisions? Is there any request for input or transparency prior making it? Some organizations publish a summary on each issue that they take a stance on, and it will include some justification for their opinion. Who knows, maybe they didn't take something into account that you can add.

If you don't like the way things are heading, becoming more active would be a better choice than immediately leaving. Though it sounds bad, an active participant and leader is someone I would want to keep over a guy who just sends in a check each year.

Long story short: Don't quit hastily, hang in there, become more active (if possible), and communicate persuasively when you disagree. Then, if they stand by their decision and it is a big enough issue for you, leave with a phone call.
posted by gagoumot at 6:53 AM on August 17, 2009

- The position is one the organization had not expressed an opinion on one or the other before, and one I had no reason to believe it had any interest in one way or the other (so it wasn't as if it was an about-face from a previous position).

Do you know what led them to want to articulate an opinion on this issue? Have there been leadership changes that may have contributed to it? Is the membership of this organization polled on policy issues, or is there an AGM at which policy is decided? Do you think the organization did this thoughtlessly or thoughtfully? I asked these questions because I think the answers to them will have bearing on a) whether you can be successful in changing their minds and, if so, b) what strategy will have the most impact.

Also, agreeing with txvtchick re: phoning to make contact if you only have a snall number of people to contact and only if you can trust yourself to stay calm/unemotional/dispassionate enough on the phone. (Personally, I sometimes cannot, and therefore choose to write as I'm a more effective written communicator.)
posted by Kurichina at 1:26 PM on August 17, 2009

Thanks to everyone who responded. I've marked gagoumot as best answer because that's closest to the approach I've decided to take initially, but all of the responses have been valuable to me in helping to think about the pros and cons of various ways of approaching this. I've stopped payment on the check, but in the letter I wrote I stopped short of withdrawing my membership, for now. I decided not to call, at least initially, for exactly the reason Kurichina outlines: I don't trust myself to remain calm in a verbal discussion about this right now, and I don't want to risk resorting to emotionally-satisfying-but-intellectually-unsound ("snarky," if you will) arguments in my initial communication; by writing, I feel I am better able to stick to the high road in making my case.

I potentially have the means to contact other members who might feel the same way, but I've decided not to do that just yet, as I don't want the leadership to feel I'm bringing an angry mob with me if there's a chance for constructive dialogue on the issue. But I still have that as an option if it seems to be necessary. I don't know what brought on their taking this position; believe me, if I had had any inkling of the possibility before it had happened, I would have spoken up then. If their response indicates that a dialogue is possible, that's one of the things I hope to find out.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 5:56 PM on August 17, 2009

Don't threaten to withdraw your membership if they don't change your mind. People do that all the time, and then rarely follows through. It'll make you look like one of those other flakes.

Either ask them for how you can bring this issue back up for reconsideration and then work towards that goal, or actually do resign your membership in protest. But if the board's been at this for any length of time, they won't take a threat to quit very seriously at all.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:43 PM on August 17, 2009

Thanks, jacquilynne; rest assured, it is not an idle threat, and I fully intend to cancel my membership if they will not reconsider. Although it would sadden me to do so, there are other organizations that do similar work without the position I find offensive. And the issue at hand is definitely a deal-breaker for me.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 6:35 AM on August 18, 2009

I'm not saying you're not serious. I'm saying using that as a threat will make you sound not seriously. It's the membership-based organization equivalent of telling a store clerk that you're calling your lawyer and are going to sue them!!!!!!

In any organization I've belonged to, the majority of people who've made those threats fall into one of two camps: people who won't follow through, and people the leadership of the group wish would follow through.

Actually resigning your membership is a good step to take once you've gone through asking them to reconsider their decision, but threatening to do so ahead of time will just come off as bluster.

If you do resign your membership, don't be surprised if that gets treated as good riddance to bad rubbish. Even if you were an effective, helpful member of the group, it's easier to reframe such defectors as bad guys so that the board doesn't end up having to think too hard about their position. I know someone going through this right now with the board of a community center she used to belong to. They were treating a friend of hers very poorly, and she resigned her membership in protest over that, and everyone now discounts all the times she made lunches or did dishes or tended bar or sold lottery tickets or anything else she did there. She's seen as someone who was just a non-contributing member who showed up once a week to play cards, even though that was emphatically not true.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:48 AM on August 18, 2009