Dear Nonprofits: You Deserve Real Development, Not Free Labor

Notes from the Nonprofit Underground | By Lauren Watson

Dear nonprofits,

Let me say this plainly: You deserve real development. Not free labor. Not exposure-based favors. Not speculative writing in hopes of magic money.

You deserve strategic, collaborative, and sustainable funding support; the kind that takes your Mission seriously and treats it with care, and your team with dignity.

But here’s the problem: somewhere along the way, our sector started confusing low-cost with ethical. Started glorifying the bootstrap model. Started telling small orgs that asking for help was noble, but paying for it was somehow off-mission.

You’ve been made to feel that budgeting for grant services is a luxury, when in reality, it’s a necessity for sustainability.

When grant writers are expected to work for free, or on commission (which most funders explicitly prohibit), the result isn’t more access, it’s more exhaustion. It reinforces the idea that nonprofits should operate on passion alone, and that professionals who support you shouldn’t need stability themselves.

That’s not equity. That’s erosion.

We need to rebuild.

Here’s what real fund development looks like:

• Investing in planning, systems, and infrastructure

• Budgeting for the actual cost of strategy, compliance, and evaluation

• Partnering with professionals who can co-design funding pathways that match your Mission

And here’s what you’re allowed to do:

• Put fund development in your operational budget

• Say no to exploitative or unclear offers 

  • (Say NO to funding caps!)

• Ask funders for prep support before the grant cycle begins

  • (Ask their contact about partners in need of what you do!)

• Expect high-quality services, and offer high-quality impact in return

  • (And measure it!)

You are allowed to expect more than struggle.

Real development is possible, but only if we stop feeding the myth that charity is the same thing as justice.

You deserve more than burnout. You deserve a budget. You deserve to build something that lasts.

With solidarity, Lauren

Part of the Volunteer Labor Myth series from Notes from the Nonprofit Underground.