The Common Good in

Common Conversation

A program of Kim Klein, CompassPoint Nonprofit Services

and the Building Movement Project
We believe:
• The values implied in the phrase “the common good”
are fundamental to a healthy democracy.

• For democracy to thrive, people must be able to engage

in wide-ranging conversations that encourage us to think
for ourselves and join with others to act on our beliefs.

• The nonprofit sector is part of the common good, and

thus must be a leader in promoting meaningful
conversation and action.
 Goals:

• Learn simple tools for leading and participating in

conversations about the common good

• Understand the potential of nonprofits to be a force

for change

• Look at fair and just tax policy as a key example of a

commons conversation
 Common Good Principle
A commons-based society is structured so that
everyone can have a good life. This means that most
people can say YES to these questions

For the most part, for most of your life,

1) Are you happy?
2) Are you physically safe and financially secure?
3) Are you able to make real choices about the course
of your life?
An easy explanation of the
common good:

“We all do
better
when
we all do
better.”
—Senator Paul Wellstone, MN
(1944-2002)
Your turn:

What does your nonprofit do for

the common good?
Examples of Common Good Structures
How is the common good paid for?
By a combination of taxes, private donations, volunteer
time, and human behavior that recognizes our
individual role in a larger community.

The percentage that each contributes varies greatly.

Example: Trash in a Public Park
• The city owns and maintains the
park using tax dollars.

• People put trash in the can.

• But not all trash gets in the can, so

sometimes individuals pick it up…

• …or nonprofits schedule “clean up

days” to clean the park thoroughly
once a year…

• And the city hauls the trash away.

A BALANCED SYSTEM
photo credit Wayan Vota, OnTask via Flickr
 What happens when the
system is out of balance?
• The city owns the park, but
because of tax cuts trash is not
picked up.
• Clean-up days are cancelled
because of rat sightings.
• Because of cuts in services to
homeless people, some sleep
at the edge of the park.
• People no longer use the park
and soon it is…”CLOSED”
Photo credit: pwever
 “Power concedes nothing
without a demand.”
—Frederick Douglass

What Can Nonprofits Do?

1. Understand Our Influence
The Nonprofit Sector nationally:

• 1.6 million nonprofit organizations generate:

$1.4 trillion per year in income from:
– Government : 30%
– Earned Income: 50%
– Private Sector: 20%

The private sector includes gifts from living individuals, gifts from bequests, and gifts and grants
from foundations and corporations.
Figures as of 2012. Source: National Center for Charitable Statistics and Foundation Center
 California has 2nd largest nonprofit
workforce in the USA
112,000 nonprofits generate:
• $160 billion per year
• Employ 8.5% of workforce—about
750,000 people

Source: Employment in America’s Charities, Salamon and Sokolowski, 2006.

http://www.adm-cf.com/jhu/pdfs/Featured_Links/EIAC.pdf
 Your State Here
YOU can also break this down by county and even city.
2. Make the Common Good a
Common Conversation

“Every single one of us has something to say to the

others…” Eduardo Galeano, noted Uruguyan author
 Listening
Styles
Photo credit: garageolimpo via flickr

Competitive Collaborative
• Listening with judgment • Open
• Lack of attention • Full attention to words and
• Waiting to make a point what’s behind them
or intervene • Not necessary to intervene
What could happen if we asked…
Does voting
Is a tax on really make a
soda a good difference?
idea?

Should dog
Would you pay parks be paid
slightly more in taxes for with tax
if it kept food banks dollars?
& health clinics open?
Practice engaged listening to fully
understand another’s
point of view
Understanding More Fully

What I heard you Please tell me more…

What was important to
say was…. you about that?
Can you give me an
I think you are example?
saying… is that What did you want in
correct? that situation?

Understanding Correctly
3. Understand the Basics
 One thing we know….

There are
enough
resources in the
United States.

We can be the
country we
want to be.

http://www.lao.ca.gov/reports/2011/calfacts/calfacts_010511.aspx#zzee_link_2_12941
70707
 Some Definitions
• “Progressive” and “regressive,”
when applied to taxes, are
economic terms, not value
judgments.

• Progressive means that the tax

rate increases as a person’s
ability to pay increases.

• Regressive means that one tax

rate applies to all (flat tax); this
puts a greater burden on people
Photo credit: Anne Ryan
who have less ability to pay.
 Types of Taxes –
Progressive or Regressive?
Sales tax:
 Cigarettes
 Clothes
 Gas
 Alcohol

What are the common good

issues in deciding whether
a sales tax on a commodity
is a good idea or not?
 Types of Taxes –
Progressive or Regressive?
Property tax:
Taxes are higher on a more expensive property, and
they increase as the value of the property
appreciates.
Fair? Not fair? How would you design this tax?
 Types of Taxes –
Progressive or Regressive
Income tax:
Regressive: Pay the same percentage on every dollar earned. With a flat
tax of 10%, tax on $25,000 income would be $2,500.
Progressive: Pay more as earnings increase. For example, on income of
$100,000:
(Numbers used are just to illustrate the concept)
Income Tax Percentage Dollar Amount
First $25,000 0% $0
Second $25,000 10% $2,500
Third $25,000 20% $5,000
Fourth $25,000 30% $7,500

Total income: $100,000 Total tax: $15,000

(before deductions)
 Bringing It Back to Conversation
People are complex:
we often have layers
of opinions.

In a true conversation,
we shift from needing
to get our own way or
to win and we focus
on hearing each
other.
 Reminder:
Listening
Styles
Photo credit: garageolimpo via flickr

Competitive Collaborative
• Listening with judgment • Open
• Lack of attention • Full attention to words and
• Waiting to make a point what’s behind them
or intervene • Not necessary to intervene
4. Know What Can Be Done
 Feeling
Don’t.
discouraged?

Can nonprofits
make a Yes!
difference?
1. Learn some of the
options
How? 2. Remember what
we’ve already
accomplished
1. Split into two teams
2. Elect one representative to be your first buzzer
3. Practice sound effects:
•
Ding, ding, ding!
•
Awwww!
 1. The ____ movement helped to pass
the____ amendment so that women
gained the right to vote.

- The Women’s Suffrage

Movement
- the 19th Amendment

Women’s Suffrage in the United States was won in 1920, with

much help from the National American Woman Suffrage
Association, a nonprofit organization.
 2. Using ___________, the Innocence
Project has helped over 300 people get out
of prison.

Answer:

DNA Testing

The Innocence Project’s use of DNA technology to free innocent

people has provided irrefutable proof that wrongful convictions
are not isolated events but arise from systemic defects in our
justice system.
 3. True or False: It is impossible to ensure
that our Social Security system will remain
healthy indefinitely.

Answer:

False

Currently you pay Social Security Tax

on the first $113,000 of your income.
Raising the cap to the first $190,000
would insure that Social Security
remained healthy indefinitely.
 4. Who are 56% of the adult population
but only 36% of likely voters in California?

People of
Color

The nonprofit California Calls is changing that. In the 2012 election, they
turned out 124,000 low income voters, primarily people of color, which had a
significant influence on the outcome of several state initiatives, including Prop
30, which stopped significant funding cuts to schools and social services.
 5. The ____ helped to end school
segregation by winning the____ Supreme
Court case.

- The NAACP
- Brown v. Board of
Education

The Brown decision inspired the marches and

demonstrations of the Civil Rights Movement
of the 1950s and '60s; and the NAACP and
other organizations contributed to the
organizing and legal victories of that period.
 6: Cities and states often subsidize a
business with tax dollars because the
business promises to _________

Create
new jobs

Cities and states could recover millions of dollars when stronger

“clawback” provisions and enforcement allow them to make
delinquent companies return taxpayer subsidies if they relocated or
didn’t actually add new jobs.
Photo credit: Andreas Klinke Johannsen via Flickr
 7: Which nonprofit was the first to launch
the Montgomery bus boycott that
ultimately brought Dr. King to prominence?

Answer:

Women’s Political
Council
 8. True or False: Income from the sale of
stock taxed at the same rate as income
earned from work at the FEDERAL level.

False
Income from the sale of assets,
called ‘capital gains’, is taxed at
0-20% depending on several
factors. This is why Warren Buffett
noted that his secretary paid more taxes
on her last dollar of income than he did.
Photo: 401k 2013 via Flickr
 9. In 25 years, the number of alcohol-
related traffic deaths each year has gone
from 30,000 to 17,000. This decrease is
due largely to the efforts of what
nonprofit?

Answer:

MADD
Mothers Against
Drunk Driving
The Winners!
“In conversation, we are called
upon to see things from another’s
point of view.”
Sherry Turkle, MIT Professor, in NYT Op-Ed

Photo credit: Ame Otoko via Flickr

Some of these things are proposed solutions
and some have already happened. But all of them
require or required discussion.
• What are the pros and cons of each one?
• Are their better solutions?
• Are their consequences we need to address?

We won’t know without more conversation.

What Can I do?
1. Talk with others about what should be paid for by
taxes and what should be paid for privately.
2. Talk with co-workers about ways the tax structure
could be changed to reflect common good values.
3. Resolve not to be intimidated by people who say
“this is too complicated” or those who cannot see
anything positive in government.
4. If you can, vote and encourage others to vote.
What Can Our
Nonprofit Do?

Level 1: Have a staff-wide conversation or brown bag lunch

meeting about both how your nonprofit affects the
common good and how it depends on it.
Level 2: Invite colleagues from other nonprofits to learn more
and see if there is joint action you all can take.
Level 3: Reach out to an organization in another nonprofit field
(for example, if you work in the arts reach out to
an environmental group or a health organization),
and discuss how you can support each other’s
advocacy efforts.
 Keep in Mind:

• You don’t have to know all the answers or have all

the facts. (That’s what search engines are for.)
• Your health and well-being is part of the common
good and you need to be involved in maintaining
it, or when needed, restoring it or expanding it.
• You have the right to have opinions and to change
your opinions.
• Your thoughts matter.
 More Resources
www.nonprofitstalkingtaxes.org

Nonprofit Vote: www.nonprofitvote.org

Alliance for Justice: www.afj.org
California Calls: www.cacalls.org
California Budget Project: www.cbp.org
Too Much: www.toomuchonline.org
California Participation Project: www.caparticipates.org
CURB: Californians United for a Responsible Budget:
www.curbprisonspending.org

Follow us!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/npstalkingtaxesCA
Twitter: www.twitter.com/npstalkingtaxesCA
Special thanks to these people for their help with the information and quality of
this presentation:

Anne Ryan, Kim Klein, Steve Lew, Mary Vradalis, Claudia Pena, Rebecca Bauen,
Adriana Rocha, Cary Sanders, Ellen Wu, Marty Martinez, Sue Bennett, Ruben Cantu,
the Building Movement Project team, and Myn Adess

Thanks to our Funders: Gerbode Foundation and Haas Jr. Foundation