Addressing the Non-Profit Industrial Complex
-
What is it?
This term was popularized by the Incite! Women of Color Against Violence collective around 2004. It is used to describe the complex ecosystem of actors in the public and private sectors that well-intentioned or otherwise end up disempowering the very people they seek to help.
-
How do I learn more?
The Incite! Women of Color Against Violence Collective has a page dedicated to exploring this issue in a wide variety of accessible formats, they are listed in more detail below.
-
How does this organization relate to the NPIC?
We apply for grants to fund our programs. We also fund our programs through grassroots funding and sliding scale program registration fees. We understand that this can cause access problems so we try to offset the costs in every way we can. We use mutual aid models in our work.
Resource Library
We recommend reading the book on the Non-Profit Industrial Complex by Incite: Women of Color Against Violence!, "The Revolution Will Not Be Funded” (2017)
We understand that reading a 272-page book is not accessible for everyone, so there are some other formats to get the information:
-
Free Digital E-Book on Archive.Org . You would need to make an account for free to access.
-
Working for you, me, we, us and them or “What’s the non-profit industrial complex and why should I care?” by Unknown Author (44 pages)
-
A short summary of approximately 2-3 pages is on the website as well as a 9 page zine. It was published in 2021 by Indigenous Action.
-
Panels at the 2004 INCITE Conference were recorded and uploaded as audio on Soundcloud.
-
Non-Profit Industrial Complex Video Series by Dean Spade (and many illustrious guests)
-
Nicole Daniels is a creator on social media platforms. She does a very humorous brand of satire of the Non-Profit Industrial Complex by portraying candid conversations between a Non-Profit employer and employees. The dynamics revealed are a humorous look at the serious dynamics covered in the other resources.
