Giving Compass' Take:

• The Urban Justice Center launched the Social Justice Accelerator to pick out organizations and offer mentorship, donor connections, and advice using an incubator model.

• How can mentorships help social change advocacy work expand throughout philanthropy? What role can you play? 

• Read about how trust works in social justice funding.

I founded the Urban Justice Center (Center) back in 1984, with the goal of providing legal aid and advocacy for homeless people in New York City, New York. In the 35 years since, the Center has grown into a dynamic advocacy organization composed of distinct projects, all of which serve New York City’s most vulnerable residents -- street vendors, veterans, sex workers, domestic violence survivors, and asylum seekers.

Just this year, though, we made a bold move to scale up our impact. We announced five cutting-edge, early-stage nonprofit directors simultaneously -- the inaugural fellows of what we call the Social Justice Accelerator.  The accelerator picks out extraordinary young organizations and provides their leaders with mentorship, workspace, legal and financial advice, donor connections, and a platform to enact sweeping change.

So, I wanted to take this opportunity to explain some of the lessons I’ve picked up in my career and articulate how the nonprofit and philanthropic community can take advantage of the practices in emerging industries.

  1. Lesson I: Find the Right People and Let Them Do What They Want If you talk to early-stage investors in tech companies, they will mostly tell you the same thing. Available market gaps are important.
  2. Lesson II: Prepare to Pivot The most powerful organizations are driven by a sense of responsibility based in ownership -- having their own board of directors, financial decisions, and general corporate architecture.
  3. Lesson III: Learn from the Communities You’re Affecting, and Be Ready to Do for Them What Nobody Else is Doing Whether your organization is seeking to make a profit or fighting injustice, the same basic rule applies: the customer or client, whether or not they themselves know it, is your north star. Know who these people are and listen to them.

Read the full article about building social justice advocacy groups by Doug Lasdon at Social Innovations Journal.