activism homegrown

Gifford wrote the book, How Are We Doing? It is available for purchase through Contributions Magazine. Gifford reads books about organizational change. This flows from her concern for social justice, issues of poverty, discrimination, civil rights, and civil liberties. These issues have always been part of her life. She gets to do this everyday with her professional work at Cause & Effect (CEffect.com). photo by Agapao Productions. book image courtesy of Gifford

by Lisa Piscatelli

Gayle Gifford, president of Cause & Effect, challenges the notion that a nonprofit’s resources are limited. Rather, nonprofits are constrained at times by not looking outward enough. “We are only limited by our ability to imagine the way to make solutions. We are rich in partnerships and we are rich in resources,” Gifford says. She identifies her role as engaging in the world and listening to what her clients need.

Gayle Giffords

“Our work is our life, our vocation. Our focus is helping organizations make community change, to make our world a better place. That is what we do,” says Gifford.

Celebrating the company’s 10th year anniversary, she jointly developed a consultancy business with her husband, Jonathan Howard. Their primary clients are nonprofit businesses and government agencies.

How do you get people to care? Gifford believes it is to give them a vision of a positive future. She says, “A vision of change that excites them and engages them, that they can see and feel and hunger and thirst for. People give to their dreams and if we forget that, it is really hard to raise resources and connect people to our issues.”

She sees a great challenge for nonprofits, recognizing that they are aging in the way they connect to people. Gifford suggests that the older, more established institutions are going to really have to think about how to make connections with young people. She is delighted by the growing number of youth based organizations and is watchful in understanding their new engagement of community.

Describing a business plan developed for a youth service organization in Worcester, Cause & Effect set up clear stages of growth, allowing the client to proceed without taking on undo risk. Now this client has opened a new office in California.

Gifford herself asks a question, “Something I have been grappling with a lot, how much is enough? I think the largest nonprofits have to ask that question.”

Money is not more important than mission Gifford says, “It’s not that money isn’t important, it allows us to achieve things that we might not have otherwise. But, the center of the work is the good that it does for other people.” She says that nonprofit organizations exist due to public trust, a ‘philanthropic moral compass’.

Referring to the golden rule as a guide to ethical behavior, she says, “We have a moral obligation to each other. That is what our society is about and the second we lose sight of that is when we get into trouble . . . Your actions have impact on the world.”

Raised a Roman Catholic and although steered away, she feels that her core is embedded in Catholicism. Gifford says, “I think there is an obligation to give, help, lift up. [The tradition] gave you a sense that there were issues bigger than you.”

She cites a Holly Near song, “I ain’t afraid of your Yahweh. I ain’t afraid of your Allah. I ain’t afraid of your Jesus. I’m afraid of what you do in the name of your God. I think that resonates pretty strongly,” Gifford says.

A similar theme echoes as she recalls events in history, “Nonviolent direct action required courage . . . it has transformed. Look at India. Look at the civil rights movement. I think those are the lessons that we need to take.” Gifford thinks that we need to hear more of these lessons instead of the messages of violent power.

Gifford grew up in the 60’s and 70’s. “Our ability to control our reproductive issues, our lives, our bodies, our choices, our children was very limited. Those struggles have always informed my life,” she says.

Her father died when she was 14. “We received social security after my dad. I understand the power of that benefit. It’s a very personal experience. We would not of survived without that benefit.” Her mother raised four children by running payroll for local businesses. As a child, Gayle Gifford was not fully aware of the family’s struggle with money.

Her activism started over women’s issues in high school. The messages of what could or couldn’t be done were everywhere. Gifford was one of three girls in high school allowed to take auto mechanics, but that was a battle fought hard. “It was a knock out drag out fight to take that class,” she says.

Gifford’s mother and grandmother are two of the extraordinary women of whom she spoke fondly. But, she struggled through tears describing the influence of Anneliese Thiemann.

Back in ’76, Thiemann was an older woman living in a carriage house in Jamestown during the summer and then in an old North Kingstown home for the rest of the year. Thiemann was a refugee. She received a pension from the German government, kind of reprobation for what she suffered. This money she donated to causes.

Thiemann read 38 publications a month. Gifford loved being around her and enjoyed lunches with this bright woman interested in the world.

In discussing a newspaper article, Thiemann found out that Gifford was not registered to vote. Thiemann immediately told Gifford that she could not step in her house again until she registered to vote. And then Thiemann proceeded to tell Gifford her own story.

It began with her employed as a social worker in the prisons of Germany. Caring for the jailed women, Thiemann offered them comfort. When able, she assisted in getting then released. The Nazi’s eventually caught on and Thiemann was tipped off to an arrest list. Thiemann narrowly escaped to the United States. Thiemann’s words to Gifford, “You know Hitler was elected. Never think your vote doesn’t count.”

Gifford has voted in every election since that day. Thiemann left a big impression on Gifford for her politics, courage, and philanthropy.

These days, Gifford’s number one passion is the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities. She is the chair and has been on the board for almost five years. Gifford believes the humanities help us make meaning of our lives — where were we, how did we get to where we are now, and allow reflection upon where we are going.

Making sure that her integrated life of activism doesn’t tip too much on the work side rather than on the family side is a constant struggle. Also, the expense of health insurance concerns this family-owned business.

Married for 23 years, Gifford and Howard have three children - twin 17 year-old sons and a 22 year-old daughter. The daily family conversation is about peace and justice, civil liberties, human rights, international issues, school reform, and neighborhood betterment. “They [the children] are very interested in the bigger issues of the world. We don’t force them to do stuff, because it will evolve for them naturally by being exposed. When they find the issues that resonate the most for them, they’ll move on that.”

Gifford says, “Bottom line in business is profit. Bottom line in a nonprofit is changing the world. Now the irony in that, we [Cause & Effect] are in business to make money. But, we’ve chosen this line of work because it is our calling.”