Dear Z Community,

Most of us on the ZStaff are new to the fundraising world, so for us it’s our first Giving Tuesday. 

What is Giving Tuesday? It’s the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving (US) and an international day of “giving back” by contributing to a non-profit. 

We likely share your combination of reactions… on one hand, a desire to join in a beautiful day of true solidarity when the world is focused on giving, sharing, and building community. On the other hand, the reflexive eye roll and even the stomach churn caused by the commodification of generosity – as if on this day of atonement, by clicking donate a few extra times the gods of Capitalism will hand down absolution for our society’s rampant individualism on all other days. We are then supposed to feel whole again, yet the ritual is often ineffective.

For all its promise, the non-profit sector and especially the fundraising industry is no post-capitalist paradise.

As people of good intent working to build a better world, it is simply our reality that we must continually find balance between engaging our critique of the status quo, while living in the status quo. By sharing this struggle in community, it is easier to bear and even to find levity. We are striving to navigate in positive directions on an imperfect road. Let’s acknowledge the good, the bad, and the ugly together.

As it turns out, like many popular traditions and holidays, when you go back to its roots Giving Tuesday is much less cringy and more radical than it appears under the corporate spotlight. At its founding, Giving Tuesday was intended to promote the concept of “generosity not as a benevolence that the haves show to the have-nots but rather an expression of mutuality, solidarity, and reciprocity.” We can get onboard with that!

In this radical spirit of reciprocity, we’d like to both give and receive this Giving Tuesday… 

Donors who make one-time donation of $60 or higher during this fundraising cycle also qualify!

Z Magazine was founded in 1980s as a follow up to the radical publishing collective, South End Press. In the opening days, a few writers’ support was critical to the project’s success, including: Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, bell hooks, Edward Herman, Holly Sklar, and Jeremy Brecher. Z developed into a major left-wing, activist-oriented publication. 

Today’s ZStaff has been working hard to bring back this unique and essential monthly magazine that presents vision & strategy focused content for activists in a beautiful format. We have even more ideas for improvements and collaborations with aligned organizations – but we need your help to fund it.

 

 

Where does your money go?? We believe in transparency and invite you to read our most recent Quarterly Report.