Huffington Post Religion covered the Faith+GivingTuesday+SocialGood summit, which featured CRCC’s Rev. Mark Whitlock, Brie Loskota and Nadia Roumani.
The summit convened representatives from religious organizations, universities and entrepreneurs who are exploring the way faith-based organizations (FBOs) shape social change and philanthropy.
Three themes arose during this meeting: ethics, imagination and integrity.
Rev. Mark Whitlock declared the importance of using ethical instead of theological language for FBOs, reaching out to cross-sector funders and partners — no matter which sector they come from. When engaging with secular partners, Whitlock said, “It’s not about theology but rather the fact that we all speak passion for the poor.” As people who share that passion, he said, “We know more about street talk than God talk.”
Watch the panel (Whitlock speaks at 13:30):
In a panel on “Leveling the playing field,” Brie Loskota spoke about how FBOs can become included in competitions, sponsorship and other types of funding opportunities. “The first step for FBOs in gaining a seat at the table is to demonstrate and communicate the outcomes they produce rather than the beliefs that motivate them.”
Watch the panel (Loskota speaks at 20:00):
Contributing fellow Nadia Roumani presented her potential solution to this problem with the use of imagination, one of the themes mentioned earlier. In her presentation, she encouraged entrepreneurs to interview target populations to see what their needs are. This cycle will continue until the needs are met. She followed this strategy to develop an online tool that helps American Muslims to fulfill their religious obligations to charitable giving.
Watch Roumani’s presentation:
