I’m surprised. You might be, too.
At the end of last month, I published the post “#TimesUp Alert: Nonprofit Organizations are Not Immune.” The post is one of my least read articles so far this year. By comparison, several old posts that I have not promoted for a long time have attracted far more readers during the past week. Given the seriousness of workplace sexual harassment and assault, I am disappointed that my post on the subject has not received more attention.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not whining. I’m simply concerned that an important, timely issue facing the nonprofit sector is apparently of little interest to fundraising professionals and nonprofit managers.
Why do you think my previous #TimesUp post has attracted so few readers?
It could be that folks do not believe it’s really a significant issue for the nonprofit sector; after all, we do good so we must be good. Or, it could be that nonprofit professionals don’t believe they have the power to bring change to their organizations, so they don’t bother thinking about it. Or, it could be something else. What do you think?
Interestingly, the percentage of post readers who responded to my one-question anonymous survey was above average. While the broader universe of potential readers might not have been interested in the article, those who did read the piece were highly engaged.
The poll was admittedly unscientific. Nevertheless, I owe it to those who responded to share the results:
To put those numbers in some context, I’d like to share what Gallup, the polling organization, has learned recently about sexual harassment in workplaces in general. Gallup has released information about its recent polling on the issue compared with a similar poll taken 20 years ago. Here is what Gallup reports:
A November 3, 2017, article titled ‘Concerns about Sexual Harassment Higher Than in 1998’ states that 69% in the US say sexual harassment is a significant problem, up from 50% in 1998. Four in 10 women [42% of US women, along with 11% of men] say they’ve been a victim of sexual harassment, and a majority of all adults now say that people are not sensitive enough to the issue. Currently, 63% of women and 54% of men say people are not sensitive enough to the problem of workplace harassment. Although there is a difference between women’s and men’s opinions, both numbers are up by more than 20 points since 1998.”
The Association of Fundraising Professionals and The Chronicle of Philanthropy have announced a partnership to conduct a comprehensive survey about the prevalence of sexual harassment in the nonprofit sector. AFP will then use that data to develop anti-sexual harassment education as part of its library of educational offerings for members and non-members.
Meantime, what do you think we can do to create or maintain safe workplaces?
That’s what Michael Rosen says… What do you say?