As I announced some months ago, my term on the board of Students for Free Culture will expire with the upcoming election (scheduled for Jan. 14 – Feb. 3), and I’m not running for re-election. Instead, I’ll be (as I called myself in September) “an alumnus who’s willing to lend a hand if asked”. As I wrote then:
The extent of my future involvement will be: I am willing to continue serving the organization in an advisory role. I am interested in establishing an alumni network of others who have graduated. I may be willing to volunteer on specific projects.
In light of the pending elections, I want to invoke my prerogative to offer some unsolicited advice. I’m not running for re-election, and I’m not endorsing candidates, but here’s my take on what voters should consider when it’s time to cast their ballots. (For what it’s worth, I haven’t reviewed the candidates’ platforms, nor the debates [1 and 2], so this is not a comment on anything the candidates themselves have said.) I hope this will also be useful to the new board members when the election is over.
Let me state first that all of the candidates are leaders. Everyone involved with SFC has far more in common than in difference, and everyone involved should remember that — never let the differences stand in the way of our common objectives. Our goals are too important to become paralyzed squabbling about our methods: the future of our culture, and our liberties, hangs in the balance. With that said, there are real differences in opinion about the best means to our ends. Here’s what I think is most important (after the jump.)
In order of priority:
0. Incorporate. Since we have bylaws now, this is just a matter of filing the paperwork. This is a prerequisite for opening a bank account (a prerequisite for #1) and for achieving 501(c)(3) status (#2). (As part of this, the board will need to verify the legal bona fides of the bylaws and ensure that everything is kosher.)
1. Get funding and hire a Coordinator. By now, we have plenty of evidence about our capabilities as an all-volunteer organization, and the evidence is conclusive:
- Some chapters thrive, and are very active;
- Most chapters languish and never get off the ground;
- Even successful chapters are all-too-vulnerable to perish from member turnover;
- Too few chapters are ever started, and we only reach a tiny fraction of colleges in America (let alone worldwide);
- We have extremely limited impact beyond our chapter campuses (e.g. on public opinion, market behavior, or legislation);
- Most chapters spend too much time reinventing the wheel, or lacking direction, stunting the impact they can have on their campus.
Improved manpower could ameliorate all of the above for SFC. More manpower requires staff, and staff requires funding. An immediate task of the board will be to start fundraising. This will require creativity, tenacity, and a significant time commitment from each member of the board. We’ll be starting from scratch, so everyone will need to chip in; the board will need to lead by example. (A word of encouragement: The money is there. We’ll just have to be tireless and crafty to find it.)
Hiring a Coordinator must also be a priority (subject to funding, obviously). Depending on the circumstances, the board might wait to hire until there’s sufficient funding to hire a permanent full-time staffer, or might hire interim and/or part-time as soon as possible. The most important thing is that it happen soon.
A staffer will massively expand capacity and create a measure of stability. (N.B. There is extensive precedent for student organizations to hire staff members, e.g. Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, American Medical Student Association, Students for Sensible Drug Policy, STAND, U.S. Student Association, and many others.) Beyond paying for staff, funding can also allow SFC to make extremely useful expenditures such as organizing a (inter)national conference and providing travel stipends for students.
2. Pursue 501(c)(3) status. Being a 501(c)(3) organization means being tax-exempt for federal (and, often, state) purposes, and that donations are tax-deductible. This makes each dollar go farther, and makes it easier to fundraise altogether. (Many foundations won’t fund organizations that aren’t 501(c)(3).) It’s an arduous process to achieve 501(c)(3) status, and will impose considerable paperwork requirements and other restrictions, but it’s worth it. It’ll be up to the board to get the ball rolling.
3. Increase communication between chapters. Internal communication and cross-chapter communication is unsustainably low, a trend that has to be reversed to stir up the activity we all want. The board has to lead the way.
4. Increase volunteerism and participation in governance. To amplify our voice on- and off-campus, we need to get to work. Compared to previous years, the last semester was a period of relative inactivity. That bodes poorly for overcoming the problems I listed in #1 above. The board needs to find ways to reverse this trend.
Hand in hand with working is decision-making. To function effectively, SFC needs more member participation in its governance processes. The board should take responsibility for getting members more involved.
5. Develop strategies to assist the growth and sustainable development of chapters. Most importantly, identify why so many chapters fail (i.e. cease to exist or be active) and find ways to help. Also important is to help existing chapters grow (and not fail), to help new chapters become established (and grow, and not fail), and to get more chapters started.
6. Develop strategies to increase our profile and influence off-campus. There’s a direct correlation between stories about SFC in the press with emails from students interested in joining. We need to (re)claim our role as the preeminent student voice in free culture issues, increasing our visibility and outreach to potential supporters.
As important as #5 and #6 are, recall that my list is in order of priority, starting with #0. These are the most important tasks for the new board, IMHO. Good luck, future board members (whoever you may be) — I look forward to great things!
