I've been watching with interest, as the members of a regional nonprofit technology email distribution list struggle with the question of whether to create a separate forum that is open only to techies who are on staff at nonprofit organizations.  In other words, the customers from our sector would like to get together and have a candid discussion about the merits of various for-profit vendors.

The regional nonprofit technology list is open to just about everyone, and there are plenty of vendors who participate in it.    Much to my surprise, some of those vendors seem to be taking serious umbrage at the idea of a separate, closed forum that would exclude them.

One aspect of this situation that amuses me is the notion that it's offensive to gripe in private instead of in public. 

One aspect that seriously worries me is the notion that any group of people need to defend their right to talk among themselves.  What if our esteemed colleagues in the field of nonprofit technology who happen to be guys started demanding that the Boston Technobabes justify our custom of single-sex gatherings?  We would be one group of snarky babes. 

Most of my impulses point in the direction of extreme inclusivity, but I also believe that others have the right to gather privately in groups that exclude me in order to talk to each other.  I don't always like to see hate groups doing that, but I acknowledge that they have the right.  (This is probably the result of believing everything that I was taught in elementary school about how great the U.S. Bill of Rights is.)  Of course, an email distribution list for IT workers at nonprofit organizations, who come together to compare notes on vendors  is far from being a hate group - but similar principles of freedom of speech and freedom of association apply.

One of the oddities of the situation is that I am upholding the rights of a group that will probably exclude me.  On paper, I'm an independent consultant, which makes me more like a for-profit vendor than a nonprofit; I don't have 501(c)3 status in my own right.  And yet, in practice, I'm a rent-a-yenta who often works on behalf of small nonprofits that don't have a director of IT to run interference for them with vendors, so I'm really more like a nonprofit worker than a for-profit vendor. 

Although it would be interesting to see what the nonprofit techies in this new group might have to say about my services, I'm not sure that I need to be on point to refute any negative remarks.  Virtually all of my clients come from the ranks of nonprofit professionals who already know me well, and the rest are referred to me by people in that category.   I'm not what what every organization needs, and maybe a previous client who candidly tells a prospective client that it would be a mistake to hire me is saving everyone a lot of regret.  But maybe I dont want to be privy to that exchange!

The convenor of the new forum, Allan Benamer, has come up with what I consider to be a very sensible statement of how the "nptechhelp" group will go forward:
 
There's a new NTEN affinity group that is open only to nonprofit tech workers whose e-mail addresses are originating from a .org and whose organization is a 501c3. I will personally verify your membership by calling your workplace. If you are interested in joining the e-mail group, please go to the nptechhelp sign-up page. After membership is verified, you can start posting.

Sorry, membership is limited only to nonprofit tech workers who are currently employed by a 501c3. Exceptions will be made on a case-by-case basis but only after consultation with the list. These rules I'm sure will change in the future especially if we start adding nonprofit tech workers outside the US but we'll work that out as we go along.

I actually do have a legitimate dot.org email address, through the courtesy of one of my nonprofit clients.  I'm onsite at this 501(c)3 organization's headquarters for many hours a week, and if Allan were to call its human resources office, they would confirm that I work there.  Just the same, I don't think I'll apply to join the new forum.  I want to respect the right of full-time nonprofit staff members to go off in a corner and be by themselves.





Related blog articles: